How to prevent Boring Dances as a beginner.
Question by shokrox
What moves do you think a beginner should master to help them get through a whole song? Like right now a whole, single song is like climbing a mountain.
Answers
User the_maffer
Work on your shines. Once you are comfortable dancing alone, dances become WAY more fun and natural. As long as the follow has some shines and solo dance moves, I am perfectly fine not being physically connected for ~25% of the song. Adds more variation, fewer repetitive CBL moves, etc… This doesn’t mean you are ignoring your partner and showing off. Maintain eye contact, have fun, flirt, respond to their moves, etc…
User hdjdkskxnfuxkxnsgsjc
I think the easiest is dance with someone you’re comfortable with.
You can be a shit dancer but if you and your partner click you will have an amazing time.
User naitzyrk
With practice. Start with the basic steps until you finally feel comfortable performing them.
User pdabaker
Don’t try to remember the whole combo, just learn the easiest 4–8 beats of it that you didn’t know yet. And try to get in at least an hour of social dance per hour of class (more doesn’t hurt)
User CharloChaplin
Not a lead but being lost is part of the process. You just need to keep social dancing with different levels, eventually you’ll find the key that makes it click (like learning a new language). If you need to get a few basics in while you think of your next combo, that’s fine, it eventually gets built into your muscle memory.
User wanderingelephantlif
When I was first starting, I used to count the beat to myself. As a follow, if you generally stick to the beat and have sufficient tension you’re pretty much most of the way there. It also stops you overthinking if you focus on counting!
But don’t forget dancing is about having fun. So the cop-out answer is enjoy it. You’re both gonna make mistakes sometimes, and there’s gonna be miscommunications. So you may as well smile when you dance.
User wanderingelephantlif
Whoops somehow I read “leads” as “ladies” hahha…
Ahh man that’s no good :/ but the good news is, we can turn that into motivation for you!
I’m a follow learning to lead. For me, leading is about experimentation with basic elements. Eg I know that to turn a follow, I’ll need to have some preparation beforehand. So I’ll use the 1.2.3 (LA) to move the arms in some way — if I did one arm one time, I’ll try the other arm, or both arms. Sometimes I’ll keep hold of one or both hands. and then mix in different directions and you’ve got several different moves. (you can tell I’m big on Cuban)
Throw some shines in there.
Talk to your partner if they seem up for it. Casual conversation or even just asking about salsa. The females I dance with are ones I already know, so I ask them how things felt, and they’ll give me feedback and I’ll adjust hand holds etc and do it again. Or I’ll tell them I’m about to try something new.
But yeah songs are LONG, I feel that. Especially the ones where they keep having false endings haha. Keep working on it, don’t be discouraged! Remember we all started somewhere. Feel free to ask further questions, this post is getting long haha.
User enetheru
I’d like you to clarify what you mean by comfortable?
I’m confident, easy going etc, but there are always some dances that are in some ways uncomfortable even mildly.. whether that’s because of clashes with my partners style, or simply because the dance floor is full or awkward, the music isn’t to my liking, etc.
ie, there is no such thing as an end game to comfort..you will dip in and out of it depending on circumstance. Which is why I’m asking for clarification, perhaps there is something more specific that you can ask which will provide help that’s better suited.
