If you’ve been dancing for a short time, say a year or even less, you probably want to improve quickly. You’re not alone – indeed, there are many of you with the same goal. That’s why I thought I’d write a few lines that I hope will help you find your way.
Each of us learns and memorizes movements at our own pace. So, it’s not very meaningful to make estimates and present them as universally valid. There are no magic formulas or secret potions to skip steps: forget about shortcuts.
That said, experience does teach us that there are faster paths and slower ones – but also paths that lead in the wrong direction. So it’s best not to go it alone, thinking you can do it all by yourself.
Maybe you’ve already thought about it, but if not, the most intuitive thing to do is to ask your instructors. They know you well, and they know the subject well, so they’ll be able to give you precise indications and a realistic idea of what lies ahead.
But don’t feel bad if they tell you “obvious” things or give somewhat vague answers: sometimes, you really don’t need to do anything extraordinary – just keep going down the way you’re already on!
In the meantime, if you’d also like a second opinion (mine), feel free to keep reading.
The foundations are the pillars
When it comes to social dancing, I always – really, always always always – suggest the same thing: keep working on your basics. Especially for beginners, the three foundational pillars to review every time are:
- Weight transfer technique
- Listen to the music (sometimes called musicality, a word that has been though abused leading to easily misunderstand what “listen to the music” means)
- Leading/Following skills
This advice applied to me too, especially when I was a beginner myself. As some of you may already know, I attended a very demanding Cuban folkloric dance academy; what you might not know is that throughout that entire time, year after year, I studied, sweated, and worked hard—exclusively on the basics – including, though, other complex chest/ribcage movements which are also fundamental of the Cuban style.
I understand that many of you might roll your eyes or think you’re already good enough. I get it – it may seem boring to go over things you already know how to do.
Working on the basics means revisiting your foundations from a new perspective, enriched by what you’ve learned so far.
But working on your basics doesn’t mean going back to the beginner course from scratch, as if you didn’t know how to dance. It means returning to the key concepts after some time, with the new understanding you’ve gained so far – so you can grasp things that went unnoticed the first time around. I assure you, there are many, many, many of them.
Over time (and yes, everyone at their own pace), three key developments tend to happen:
Weight transfer and grounding
The weight transfer technique, also known as weight shifting, is what allows you to dance with more stability and confidence in your movements. Dancers who master this technique move by placing the toes on the floor first and releasing their weight only once the heel and ankle settle down. It’s hard to describe – it’s something you learn in dance school. As your technique becomes more refined, your ability to control and coordinate movements – both solo and with a partner – improves as well.
Listen to the music – aka “musicality”
Cuban music is rhythmic and diverse. Not all Salsa songs are the same. Beginners are usually satisfied when they can clearly identify the musical One and tend to think that’s the ultimate goal. As your ear becomes more “Cuban,” you’ll start to pick up on other musical nuances that go unnoticed without ear training. Your movement will increasingly tune into these subtleties, your steps will gain more expressiveness and this, in turn, enhances your weight transfer technique which, as we’ve seen, has a big impact on your leading and following ability.
Leading and Following
I’m not a big fan of the term “following” because it suggests a passive role, which isn’t a proper description of the way we dance. In partner dancing, in fact, both dancers play an active role. The way we dance Salsa today no longer has a primary and a secondary role like in the past. In short, the ability to lead and interpret plays a crucial role. That being said, I will use them as they are anyway a standard de facto in the dancing scene.
Improving your leading or following skills means becoming more sensitive and adaptable to different partners – including many beginners who still have a “messy” technique. From a technical perspective, in my view, this is the most important skill in social dancing, because it’s the one that most determines whether a dance will be enjoyable for both people.
Everything else comes later
As you may have gathered, improving your foundations positively impacts many other aspects. In fact, many schools revisit these concepts from time to time precisely because they know how essential they are.
Everything else – flexibility, complex moves, “fancy” styling – is something you can absolutely explore while solidifying your basics or afterward. In my experience, those who go from level to level all the way to advanced without ever going back tend to take longer to reach their goals.
A word about “connection”
Lately, it’s become very trendy to talk about connection in dancing. The term has been overused, misused, and gradually emptied of meaning. But the concept it refers to is more relevant than ever: dancing is done by two people, and each contributes to making the experience enjoyable and harmonious for both.
In partner dancing, each dancer contributes to making the dance enjoyable and harmonious for both
You can have fun with very little – just like in class – but the emotions and sensations you experience when dancing with a strong connection are truly indescribable and priceless.
This process becomes much easier the more solid your foundations are, because they help make your body movement cleaner and more refined. Many beginners believe that dancing is about learning hundred of thousands of figures. Sure, figures can be fun. But I promise you: once the initial excitement fades, very little of those countless figures will actually stick. When people go out dancing, they usually end up doing the same two or three figures – no more.
On the other hand, if your idea of dancing is precisely to learn hundreds of thousands of figures and memorize long, intricate choreographies, then this post probably won’t be much help. In that case, of course, my first suggestion still stands: talk to your instructor, who I’m sure will be happy to assign you even longer and more complex choreographies to memorize 😉
Learning effectively, efficiently, and sustainably
With solid foundations, you’ve laid the groundwork to learn any advanced technique with reasonable ease. Without strong fundamentals, however, people often hit a wall that becomes increasingly hard to overcome – and over time, many start to feel they can’t move forward anymore.
Those who find themselves in this situation tend to become discouraged and often quit dancing altogether.
Solid foundations allow you to learn in a way that is effective, efficient, and sustainable.
Going too hard is a very common mistake, and that’s why I’m warning you not to overdo it. Mind and body operate at different speeds – and they must be feed accordingly. What does that mean?
It means that in the beginning it’s easy to get carried away with excitement: signing up for a ton of classes, going out dancing every night. While that may seem like a brilliant idea at first, there’s one guaranteed side effect: burnout. Even things you enjoy, when repeated too often, can start to feel boring.
It’s not unusual for people who overdo it to eventually lose their spark, and no longer find joy in either learning or social dancing.
On the opposite side, those who rarely attend social dancing tend to learn more slowly than necessary – and for them, the social experience can feel frustrating. Deliberate practice – meaning going out, relaxing, having fun – is an essential part of absorbing what you’ve learned in class. In fact, lessons are designed with the expectation that students will go dancing: so lessons are not enough on their own!
Based on my experience, the approach I recommend is the classic “middle ground”. In other words, balance things in a way that makes your learning effective, efficient, and sustainable over time. From what I’ve seen, that usually means attending lessons once a week and going social dancing once a week. I’d suggest dedicating two (or at most three) session (dancing/classes) per week to dancing.
To make your social dancing as valuable as possible – remember, it’s supposed to be fun, not a workout – try dancing with as many different dancers as possible, from different levels and different schools. And don’t forget to enjoy a nice cold beer1!
1. Maybe even more than one 😉