5 Common Mistakes to Avoid While Doing Salsa

Whether you’re heading for a salsa dance class or a social dancing night, there are some mistakes that you absolutely need to avoid in order to enjoy yourself and also make your partner have a good time on the floor!

1. Don’t make the dance only about ‘you’

Remember that salsa is a partner dance; so you cannot do a thousand moves without giving any consideration to your partner. Ultimately, they also want to have fun and enjoy themselves! Try and build a connection with your partner at the start of the dance. This will give you a fair idea about their level of dancing (beginner, intermediate or advance) and allow you to lead accordingly. Just because you know a complicated move does not mean that you must do it with every partner.

2. Practice timing

One cannot emphasize enough on the importance of timing in a salsa dance routine. Dance out of tune and you’re likely to be blacklisted on the salsa dance floor. A good way to master rhythm is to practice on multiple soundtracks so that you are equipped to dance to both slow-paced and fast-paced numbers!

3. Protect your partner when dancing on a crowded floor (for the leaders)

This is perhaps one of the most common and yet highly overlooked problems in salsa dancing. Men are considered to be the leaders in a salsa dance and it is their unsaid responsibility to protect their follower. As a leader, you need to have basic awareness regarding whatever is happening around you and your partner. This will help prevent stomping on others’ feet or running into the adjacent couple while performing on the floor.

4. Don’t clinch onto the hands of your partner

Leaders need to have their hands and wrists free for maintaining a flexible and comfortable flow while dancing. This makes it easier to establish a connection with the partner. The same rule applies to women. If they clutch the hands of the man, he will not be able to move his hands for effective leading.

5. Avoid over-styling (for the followers)

Agreed that salsa is all about styling. It makes a woman look very beautiful and sexy. But too much of anything isn’t good, right? This means that you don’t need to style every single move in your dance. Your first priority is responding to your partner’s lead and knowing when he will give the time and space for styling.

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