Salsa Dancing Tips for Men and Women

Learning to salsa dance can take years to master so we’d like to help you reduce that time frame as much as possible. Our series of tips for Salsa dancers are designed to help you understand the 80/20 of Salsa: the 20% of technique that will give you an 80% increase in results. That means learning quicker and dancing more efficiently. We’ll help you get your dancing feeling smoother and easier, so you can enjoy social dancing without thinking. Now does that sound good or what?!

We’ve got Salsa tips for beginners to pro’s – they truly are useful regardless of skill level. What’s most important is how fast you can break down your bad habits and pick up the good ones.

Browse the Salsa tip videos below. It’s time to start soaking up some knowledge!

Film Yourself To Avoid Bad Habits (And Fix Them)

Recording yourself dancing is a great way for you to be able to spot areas of weakness and things you’d like to work on.

Cultivating self awareness is key to improving faster.

Film Yourself to Fix Bad Habits

When we’re dancing everything happens so fast. It’s all a blur and we’re not aware of our body sometimes, so when you have video recording of it you’re able to play it back and spot those things that you would otherwise miss while you’re dancing.

For example, the first time I ever saw myself on video it was horrifying, but also a very good experience at the same time. It was horrifying because I thought I was a superstar but it turned out I had some really weird habits.

I was bopping my head like crazy, I was doing some weird flicky foot thing and my immediate reaction was thinking ‘Oh my god….’ That was my ego talking and I wanted to come up with all these excuses as to why I was doing it, “Oh yeah, I was so tired, I just got off work…” or whatever the excuses might have been.

But put your ego aside and just look at what the video recording tells you and go from there.

It’s a process that we all go through.

Once you’re able to identify a couple of things like, “Hey, this arm movement doesn’t really suit me,” you just clean it up.

The whole goal is to become more aware of things you do, so you can adjust them if you want to.

If you don’t film yourself, you’re going to develop some bad habits and that are going to be hard to get rid of later.

Film Yourself to See Your Progress

Record a video when you start, or right now, and then once a month or every few months to see your progress. Looking back at how far you’ve come is super motivating. It will keep you going.

It’s tempting to delete the videos, but you’ll be so glad you kept them so you can look at them later. We actually enjoy seeing videos, even if it’s just a few years ago, of us doing silly things. It’s just part of the process, so enjoy the ride, and accept where you’re at.

Accept what the video tells you and then work on that stuff. Believe me, you will progress.

If you don’t record yourself dancing it’s going to take you much longer to improve. And, trust us, you’ll wish you did it sooner so you can look back at how far you’ve come.

 

How To Improve Your Salsa Basic Step On1 & On2

Perpetual Motion In Your Basic Step

When dancing salsa you should always be in constant motion. Unfortunately, this isn’t the easiest way to learn the basic step. It’s common for instructors to teach newcomers the salsa basic using a ‘quick quick stop’ rhythm. The ‘quick quick stop’ rhythm happens when you take the first two steps of your basic and finish your 1, 2, 3 count with your feet together. This ‘quick quick stop’ method isn’t wrong, but it will limit your ability to execute more advanced steps due to the lack of fluidity in your movement.
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How to Find the Beat in Salsa Music (Free Video Course)

(Full course outline below)

Finding the Beat (FTB) is a free youtube course that’s helped thousands of new salsa dancers get past their #1 problem: how to find the beat in salsa music.

If it helps you, please share it with your friends!

Although designed for salsa dancers, because salsa music is the most complex, these lessons will help you find the beat in ANY type of music.

I’ve broken down the process into 4 logical steps:

  1. Counting non-salsa music (easy music)
  2. Moving to non-salsa music
  3. Counting salsa music (more complex)
  4. Moving to salsa music

By the end of this course you’ll be able to…

  • Understand the structure of music
  • Count music
  • Hear the beat in salsa music
  • Find the 1 in salsa music
  • Stay on time while dancing salsa with much higher success

Here’s the Finding the Beat youtube playlist and you can find the entire course outline below.

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7 Tips On How To Adjust Your Salsa Lead When Dancing With Beginners

So, you’re a beginner dancing with another beginner or maybe you’re more of an intermediate to advanced level dancing with someone who’s newer than you, less experienced than you, or someone who has relatively little technique and who may or may not have ever taken classes before. How do you make sure you and your partner have fun and you keep your leads clear? Today we’re talking all about how to adjust your lead for beginners.
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How To Become a Smoother Salsa Lead

The Magical Concept of Cause & Effect

Today we’re gonna help you become a smoother lead by talking about a magical concept called “cause and effect.” Now, why do I say it’s magical? Well, if you use cause and effect you can do less and get better results. It’s going to make your lead smoother and the follow’s job so much easier. It’s going to make you’re you’re dancing look better, feel better and the ladies (the follows) are going to love you for it. They’re going to appreciative it a ton.
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