How To Stay Grounded In Your Salsa Basic
Polishing Up Your Front & Back Basic Step
Once you learn how to maintain perpetual motion in your basic step, it’s time to work on staying grounded. This will help you keep your rhythm and timing while making every movement you make much smoother. Like any dance, having these fundamentals down, is crucial in order for you to execute the trickier stuff later on.
Keeping Both Feet On The Floor Gives You Control
To avoid having a choppy looking basic step, try keeping your feet on the floor for the beginning of counts 4 and 8. This will help you extend your movement through your hips and help you maintain perpetual motion throughout your basic. Avoid lifting your feet and/or knees too high. It will contribute to your loss of rhythm and hinder your ability to achieve optimal body movement through the hips and torso. Your feet should only ever come off the floor slightly during your basic.
Understanding The Two Different Tempos
When you’re dancing your basic step, your body should be accomplishing two different rhythms.
Rhythm 1:
The feet step quick, quick, quick on counts 1, 2, 3 – 5, 6, 7.
Rhythm 2:
The Body moves continuously on the Quick, Quick, Slow rhythm, using the full count: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Your upper body should never stop moving.
Always remember to milk that slow count. The quick quick slow rhythm is the essence of Salsa. Without it, you’re no longer dancing Salsa.
That’s It For Now
We hope this tip has helped you polish up your Salsa basic. If you have any questions on how to make your movement even smoother, we’re always happy to help. Just give us a shout in the comments.