Salsa dancing “Moving Your Feet To The Salsa Beat”
Salsa dancing has swept the world by storm for decades. Salsa’s infectious and uplifting beats have made this dance popular. The music coupled with the dancing itself have made it a recipe for many good times and wonderful experiences. salsa dancing , once learnt salsa is a skill that you have to call upon for a life time. It’s a bit like learning to play the guitar . I have been privileged not only to learn to salsa myself but also teach salsa to thousands of students since 2001. I have below a video that takes you through some salsa steps and gives you some tips so that you can be confident to take up , improve your salsa dancing .
Salsa Dancing Video
Salsa is danced on 8 beats. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7. You may have noticed that I’ve actually left out the 4th and 8th beat. That is because they are pauses. This will make a lot more sense to you as you continue to learn the basic steps.
Salsa is danced as Leaders and Followers. The leader begins with their left foot and the follower begins with the right foot.
Okay, to teach the basic steps, we will dance them separately as the leader and the follower.
If you are looking for a great song to practice your salsa dancing check out my earlier post by clicking here
One of the frequently asked questions I get when teaching a beginners class is… which salsa songs are great from beginners. Whilst there are many great salsa songs for beginners out there ,there is one I always recommend and that is Acid by Ray Barreto. The reason I like this song for beginners is that :
It’s an instrumental
You really get to hear the instruments that make up this song and also salsa music in general.
It’s great to dance to for a beginner salsa dancer as is it’s not fast and is really great at encouraging
you to keep in time to the beat .
It’s one of the most played salsa songs in salsa classes around the world.
I thought I’d put the video below for you. Acid is the salsa song for beginners.
If you can get your hands on a copy of the song I certainly encourage it.
That’s it for now and until next time keep dancing and enjoying your salsa.
So want to learn salsa online ? Well great because now a days there are a lot ofonline resources you can tap into to learn salsa.All you need to do is search YouTube to find some cool videos on salsa dancing where you can both learn and be inspired. When I first started learning I didn’t have the privilege of having accessYouTube. (no I am not that old if you are wondering I’m only 43 years young) .Apart from going my salsa dance classes and dancing salsa at least 3 nights a week. I would learn from learn to salsa videos that I had purchased from salsa dance teachers from around the world . Any way I promised you some salsa dance tips on how to learn salsa online which worked for me in the early days and until this day I have preached the same to all of my salsa students.
Here are my 8 tips on learning salsa online:
Search foronline salsa videos and informationfor yourlevel and type of salsa style of dance. (i.e. Cuban salsa, LA Style salsa , On2 New York Style etc..) for example if you are beginner search for beginner salsa lessons online . if you are intermediate , searchintermediate salsa dance moves – you get what I m trying to say ,don’t you.
Make sure you can find videos online that are structured in a way that will follow a sequence to help you progress with your dancing . What Imean by this is that each salsa video online will lead you to the next step or salsa move . for example a video series that shows a progression of moves for your leveland is easy or you as the student to follow and understand.
In our classes we have always taught moves that can be lead . One thing to keep in mind is when looking at salsa videos online or on DVD’sis that some videos may contain salsa moves that are choreographedand more than likely not leadable on the dance floor.
Search Salsa forumsand interact online with other dancers . Search “salsa forums” in Google
Be dedicated to practicing by yourself , with a partner or a group on like minded salsa dancers. Form practice groups if you can and help each other out.
Go out dancing ! That’s write get out on the social dance floor. I have a saying everyone has the right to be a beginnerso go out andgive it ago.
Timing is important so that you execute your movesto the salsa music so make sure you count along to keep time. Remember 123 pause 567 pause ( if you are dancing on one). When teaching my classes it was those students who counted along that progressed quickly
Practice, Practice,Practice
Above I have listed some tips to help you learn salsa online. Below are some resources to help you.