GETTING STARTED WITH SALSA DANCING
Yomi A
"Salsa" may just mean "sauce" in Spanish, but, on the dance floor, it means a fiery, spicy rhythmic ride that some newcomers may find too hot to handle. There are ways to cool off your anxiety and make sure that when you do join in this fusion of Cuban, Puerto Rican and African rhythms, you stay on the beat and keep the dance alive. Before you read the following basic tips and tricks, remember the advice of many salsa teachers - if you can walk, you can salsa!
When salsa dancing, you must have the appropriate footwear. It's best for men to wear leather soles. I would avoid wearing any open shoes because that could be painful if your partners heel hits your toes. I would recommend women wear solid dance shoes for support. If they are new shoes, make sure you break them in good to avoid your feet from getting blistered. As for clothing, comfortable and light clothes are best to allow free movement. You want to make sure the clothes you wear will allow you to perform those turn patterns and shines without restricting your ability to glide across the dance floor.
Before you hit that dance floor, visit a dance studio for salsa classes. It's more important for the guy to attend these classes since the expectation is higher for him to make the girl look good on the dance floor. Sometimes you will find some night clubs offering free salsa lessons before opening up the club. You can really take advantage of this since it is free and you will more than likely find a dance partner that will be at the same level as you.
Ladies, your job is to learn how to be creative in the confines of following your guy. Track his movements, match his arm tension, don't wave around like you're about to go under for the third time. Bobbing or bouncing is not really the idea here - keep your back straight, your arms tight, and make your hips do all the work.
And for both sexes, avoid ponytails - when you're that close and you're spinning, you don't want a lethal whack from a whirling hunk of hair!
Always relax and have fun when you go out salsa dancing. Look at the experienced salsa dancers and pick up a few things that you can add to your own style. Keep practicing your salsa dance moves when you have time and watch yourself get better and better at it.
One more thing to remember, if you plan on dancing salsa all night be prepared to sweat a lot. Carry a small hand towel because it is going to get hot!.
Do you want to learn salsa dance steps? Join the salsa channel email list and get information on dance patterns, video tutorials, podcasts, articles and online http://www.salsachannel.net/salsa/newsletter.html salsa lessons You can get a http://www.uberarticles.com/?id=15510&b=79 unique content version of this article.
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