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Change of Place – Beginner Salsa Step

The change of place is a nice introductory Salsa step that gets you moving around your partner. If it looks familiar, that’s because it closely resembles the Enchufa step from Cuban Salsa. The stepping stones leading up to this move are your Salsa basics. If you haven’t already learned them, go back and check out the demonstration here. The more comfortable you are with your Salsa basics the easier it will be to pick this move up.

Later on, in our experienced beginner lessons, you will learn a partner work move called “Ochos”. Before you get there, make sure you have already mastered this step.

Demo of the Change of Place

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This video is just a teaser. To access the full video tutorial, become a Dance Dojo member.

Lead’s Footwork

Leads, your footwork mainly consists of the back basic and front-back basic that you’ve seen previously. There’s not much new to learn here, other than being able to transfer between your basics smoothly and dancing on the rail so you clear the way for your partner to follow her line of dance.

Follow’s Footwork

Follows, your footwork here is a little different than that of the cross body lead. To start, you’ll rock back on your right foot with a forward pivot on your left foot on the count of 3. From there, finish your basic step by anchoring on the count of 8.

The Lead and Follow Technique

The key to executing this step successfully is getting that ‘boing’ effect which is initiated by the lead stepping out to the side on 1 (instead of his usual forward step). Another key aspect of this move is that the lead needs to get completely out of the follow’s way by 3, so that she can dance a straight line and switch sides with her partner.

Time to Get Practicing

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