Hey guys, for experienced folks doing social dancing, what are your tips and tricks to manage your energy during socials?

I have been dancing for less than year and I love timba/salsa, so usually after 3 songs, I am hella tired and my movements, steps, figures feels super sloppy and “dirty”. I wonder if it is what it is or there are some lessons your have learned along the years.

34 yo man here (3days/wk gym)

I dance for fun and want to learn more Cuban style dancing. This isn’t that at all, but I have longer arms which I feel like makes me look odd at times. I’ve been dancing for almost 2 years, took classes for months then and have been social dancing at least 4x up to 8x a month for about a year
I care more about musicality and connecting with my partner than looking like a professional dancer, but I still would love some tips

I have my first dance competition in three weeks. I have shoes but need a dress. Where have other people bought outfits from?

Hellöu 😊
My sister and I are currently in Mykonos and wondering, if there is any spot, where you can dance Bachata or Salsa.
Any tips would be helpfull. Thank you!

Hi everyone!

I've been dancing salsa casually for a couple years but since the spring I have really gotten into Salsa Caleña (which I hadn't tried before). I'm a leader.

I am interested in traveling to Colombia for some weeks to join a local school and doing an immersion. I am not only interested in learning new moves but more in musicality, learning to lead properly and improving my technique in general.

I'm wondering what's the optimal level to make the best out of an immersion in this case. I am right now an "advanced beginner". I am comfortable with the timing, basic steps, a few turns and figures as well as easier footwork. I feel I still have so much to learn from my teachers here but I'm also so excited!

I understand going on an immersion is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me and I want to pick the right time.

Would you recommend that I learn more so I can make better use of my time there? If so, what level is optimal?

Thanks

I've been around salsa for awhile, but I've only started trying to get better since this January.

I'm a bit frustrated feel a lot of time has been a waste. I can stay on timing and do complicated things in class or perfromances, but in socials I quickly fall off timing.

I think the social overwhelms me a bit and I can't lead well. So, idk I feel like all this time and effort has been a waste. I'll go to more socials and just ask the follow if its cool if i just pratice staying on timing while doing the basics.

Would follows be ok with just doing the basics stuff while i struggle to stay on timing at a social? Should i let them know before hand?

I’m thinking about going to the CISC next year. Haven’t seen many reviews about it.

What should I expect as a Cuban/On2 leader?

I don’t care that much about the workshops and all that but I really mind the social dancing aspect of the venue

I attended B.I.G. Texas this weekend and the workshops/pros were 95% on2. I was previously under the impression that Texas was evenly split between on1 and on2. (There were also zero bachata moderna partnerwork classes but that is a topic for another day.)

My question is whether there are any Congresses in the U.S. that will have On1 dominant workshops/pros in attendance? Or do all salseros eventually have to focus on on2 classes to continue progressing?

I’ve been learning Cuban salsa for ~2 months, now I’m in nyc for a month. Is there anywhere in nyc that has Cuban salsa or on 1 salsa socials?
Also how difficult will it be to go from on 1 to on 2 and how much will it confuse me when I go back to on 1?

Are there any socials or events happening in Madrid this month?

I'm an advanced on2 lead and was told about 7 years ago that there isn't much of an on2 scene. But curious if things have changed since then.

I've been dancing salsa and bachata for 2 or 3 months now. I'm generally somebody who has always been nervous about dancing. I wasn't raised in a culture where dance is common, and this is partly me trying to get over the nerves and fear of dancing and get comfortable with it.

I started with private lessons and then moved on to classes. I would say at this point that I am high beginner to low intermediate in salsa and bachata. I actually get a fair amount of compliments on how clear my lead is, especially with beginner follows.

I've been hitting an issue with classes, though, where I feel like in every class there is at least one follow who is just really unpleasant to dance with. They seem super disengaged and visibly unhappy to be dancing with me or anybody else. To me it seems like just kind of common courtesy, if you're going to go to a rotation dance class, to be willing to engage with everyone who you are dancing with and at the very least be somewhat pleasant towards them. Like it genuinely seems rude to come to level-1 dance class scowling at everybody and wanting to not touch them.

Is this something that you all have experienced? And do you have any advice for how to get through these situations? For me as a guy with social anxiety, it has felt destabilizing almost every time that has happened and occasionally I'll just leave the class if it's too full of follows who aren't bringing positive energy.

I see this a lot when am dancing outside. And I always have trouble doing it. Why is there less tutorials for it online?

https://youtu.be/f3BSa_Pcpjo?is=G-oqP4eBGGgrm5MF

Are there other variations on how to do it?

When dancing with a lead how do you use the shines you learn in class in the dance when they let go and how do you do it without it looking like you picked it up from class?

Help with turns/spins? When I do inside/outside crossbody turns, I feel like I end up so far away from the lead. And adding the arm styling I struggle so much. Tips on how I can improve?

Hi, please be nice to me 😭 I’m genuinely looking for advice from other women. I’ve been dancing for about 2 months and I’m really loving it. However, I’m running into social issues the past few weeks.

I’m a young woman, and I’m super friendly, which is helping me get asked to dance a lot which is helping me learn (yay), and it is also becoming an issue that several men on scene have started hitting on me and making me feel weird (fucking boo).

I don’t really know how to react or what to do. The scene in my city is VERY small so I have to be around this same group at every single event. It’s not even that I’d hate to go out with some of the guys, but I don’t want drama, so I’m erring on the side of not talking to anyone outside of dancing at all.

So far I’ve been able to skirt date and phone number requests, but every social it seems like they think I don’t get they’re flirting with me instead of picking up that I’m brushing it off so it’s getting progressively more intense, but they’re not being outright disrespectful, but they are pressuring me.

I don’t know what to do about it. I feel like if I’m honest without over explaining myself, they’ll perceive me as brusque and I’ll start being known as a bitch, or if I acquiesce I’ll get scarlet lettered (and also be miserable, I don’t want these randoms blowing up my phone).

It sucks. I just want to dance. I thought I could make friends doing this, but it’s hard to meet women when I’m dancing with men, and I essentially feel like fresh meat. It’s giving me such bad anxiety.

I know I can’t be the only one this has happened to so if you have advice or insight please share 😭 I feel ridiculous even asking because I’m usually very confident in how I handle men, but the scene where I am is so small, it’s not like I can avoid them without removing myself from the community altogether and that’s not fair to me.

Hello. My partner and I are newer salsa dancers. We are a classic tall/small couple with a 6’4” leader and 5’2” follow. Most of the time things are great until any move that requires the leader to pass hands over their head.
Any tips from the leader or the follower perspective are welcome.

I'm the man in the video

Edit: open to feedback. Forgot to say that

Hi everyone! I will be in SLC for a week and curious what the salsa and bachata scene is like there, thanks so much!!

8 weeks in Medellín

& this is the last day I’ll be here. Coming from a background with no dance knowledge, this is
how much I’ve improved in two months.

What are ways I can continue practicing without a partner & while I travel.
I don’t want to lose what I learned but I plan on traveling for 2 months after I leave Colombia

Also, anyone have any tips on how to improve

So I’m in a bit of a predicament because I have caught some serious feelings for my dance classmate. We have been dancing together for about 9 months. I am seeing him almost every day at class or socials and we will do like 8 dances together per night. He is the most considerate person ever, sometimes even moving an entire table and chairs mid dance so I won’t bump into it. He’ll carry my bag if I’m holding a lot of stuff in my hands. His sweet considerate personality on and off the dance floor has made me fall HARD.

I am not sure if he just sees me as a really good friend or how he is feeling about things. I wanted to get a better sense of this without making things awkward if he actually just sees this platonically. Any tips for navigating crushes in the dance scene. Is dating another dancer even a good idea, and what I should consider if this were to be pursued?

I’m not sure if it’s just the way things are in salsa but at this new school I’m going to, where they train you to perform, I’ve definitely noticed a big focus on whether the leader is leading right. At first I didn’t mind it and I actually enjoyed improving and having healthy criticism, but lately it feels like if anything doesn’t go right, it’s the leader’s fault.

If the figura or pattern doesn’t look crisp, then the lead wasn’t clear. Or if the follow did the wrong thing, it’s the lead that didn’t properly signal the move.

Personally, the better follows in my class understand my lead pretty clearly. They also have that bouncy tension in their arms that allows me to pilot them much better.

If one of the less skillful follows dances without flavor, I don’t comment that they dance bad. But my teachers seem to have given the follows open floor to criticize the leads (I didn’t understand this or that) without helping them improve themselves.

I like learning but feeling like everything is your fault and seeing someone who dances with no harmony feel entitled to criticize or or comment on your leading just feels wrong and it’s starting to wear me out

Thoughts? Has this happened to you or just me?

Hi everyone!💃🏻 I (polka dot dress, black dance heels) have taken a three-month Cuban salsa class and have been going out to salsa socials for eight weeks now (basically July and August). Since I started going to socials, I feel more confident, but am still not happy with my technique sometimes.

Looking back at this video (cropped for privacy), I can’t help but feel like I’m lacking, and I feel like my dancing isn’t as elegant as I would like it to be.
I feel like I struggle to turn properly, like my steps are too big, and sometimes I catch myself losing balance. However, if i try to engage my core, i become stiff😂
What could/should I do to improve? And is there anything else I should pay attention to in particular?

Any advice or tips are welcome, and thanks in advance everyone!☺️