Advice To All Beginners

Much of the advice that is given to beginners is from advanced dancers who are rarely able to remember what it was like at that early stage in their careers and rarely are there organized recommendations. Below is a list of factors that lead to beginner level salser@s becoming intermediate dancers and I'm strictly reflecting from the catalysts for my own personal growth. This is all advice that is innately from a leads perspective, but nevertheless is still valid for followers.

1. Get the count right. My skills exponentially improved once this was established and I started enjoying salsa a lot more. Literally the biggest difference for me moving from beginner to intermediate was getting the timing so solidly down that you don't need to count. Screwing up the count is a massive hinderance to your dancing, not only in that you can't enjoy the music, but also you can't maximize your practice time and gain from experience. A lot of the issues of connection and strength, etc. do naturally improve with experience, but if you can't get the timing, everything else you do is a bit futile since you don't have the foundation of the dance. Salsa unlike other forms of dance are heavily based on music that has structure, and the dance follows this structure with a system of logical moves. This logical structure I believe helps the dancers learn faster and starts with understanding the structure of the music.
   
   This will have added benefit later on when you're an intermediate dancer. With the ability to unconsciously know where the 1 and 5 were at all times, I gained a freedom, particularly when dancing socially. freeto focus on patterns and practice thinking ahead, without worrying about the count and eventually, the patterns started developing without me thinking. Now I focus on musicality as an intermediate, which is soemthing most intermediate leads aren't looking to do. While my pattern selection isn't as large as others and I'm not as smooth as the more advanced dancers, I feel I have more fun and provide an experience that is more fun. That wouldn't have been possible without my constant listening to the music and really having it take over my dancing.Get the music.


2. Do tons of shines... I mean tons. Balance and control while transfering weight is crucial and it will help give you control not only of your own body, but also when doing partnerwork. If you can't do shines properly and with ease, you don't have control of your core, so by practicing them you'll naturally improve that facet of your lead and follow. It also works on your timing (see number 1).


3. Leads need to be assertive. You're the guy, you need to assert yourself. Leads don't initially what's comfortable and the only thing you can do is ask, instead of guessing. The follow is as clueless about what's going on as you, but you need to provide the leadership and comfort, that this ship IS going some place. Your strength, pressure and tension will change so drastically from week to week that all you really can do is ask and then adjust. It's important that if you're going to be assertive, you understand the difference between being rough and leading with confidence. The job of a follow is to respond to you, but if the lead doesn't not communicate clearly what needs to be done, don't be surprised at the unexpected results. Leading can be done at different strengths, as long as the communication is there. For a beginner who tells me he's too light, I'd worry about whether psychologically, he's doing enough to assert himself and even trying to communicate properly, leaving alone issues of acceleration, smoothness and leading from the body.


4. Practice basic movements. A cross body lead, with and without an inside turn, and use of your 567 (on2), and numerous turns that are done often can easily be practiced at home solo. If you're CBL is crap, then what you do after that is going to be crap. Understand the purpose of your break steps and weight transfer in each step. For instance on2, the momentum built in the 6 is used. The basic isn't just a couple of pretty little steps. The momentum built in breaks is used when going from 6 through 7 and into a CBL. The 2 and 6 have a major purpose and are the base for everything you do. Think of it as storing energy in a battery when you're breaking for those steps. It's a build up of potential energy that will be released. I guess then, an obvious bit of advice is to just practice mastering that basic.


5. Don't rush into the next level. Most people make this mistake, especially leads. Focus on the fundamentals and the shines and if you want to move to the next level double up on classes and still retake the lower level. I especially recommend that you don't move up if you aren't able to grasp to quickly tell where the 1 and 5 are. I can't stress this enough. It's not rare to have people take a beginner, intermediate and advanced classes multiple times. If you can't sleep through the class then you still need it, meaning that the level of ease and comfort you need to have is beyond what your mind can imagine. You're not able to associate where you are with what is truly control, so you usually rush thinking you have it, when you don't have it fully. I made this mistake, and I don't know one lead that didn't rush at one point or another.


6. Once you have the music, go out social dancing. Even if the patterns are simple, simple is better, since follows hate being put through patterns that aren't understood fully by the lead. Anyway, most follows don't have the required techniques to follow fancier things anyway, and are very self-conscious about what they are able to do. Doing simle patterns with a beginner follow, puts them at ease and as long as you're on time, they'll love dancing with you. If you get off timing a few times in a song, it's fine!!!!! As long as you can get back on, you'll be fine. It all gets better, but if you don't go through the process of recognizing when you're off timing, it will never become unconscious. If you don't go through the process of juggling "What will I do next?" and "What beat am I on?" and "I need to watch out for this guy next to me" it will never get better.


7. Stay positive. Keep the faith and stop rushing your development. You don't even realize that you're improving sometimes and you'll have moments when things just click. Also look up the salsa learning curve:
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   Don't get fazed by the the scene you're in. NYC is very intimidating and I didn't go to the big socials until months after I was comfortable with the music. Instead I spent time in lower level school socials that fostered my development and allowed me to make mistakes without building a negative reputation. The problem in NYC is that there isn't much middle ground between getting good and dropping out for dancers who are only planning on dabbling. I can think of plenty of spots where the leve is not very high, but of those venues that are well publicized, they're well attended by higher level dancers. Instead of reacting negatively, use it as motivation and push yourself to become better. Use those moments when you're most frustrated to create a pact with yourself to improve.
   
   I've gone through frustrating periods where I suffer a form of "salsa depression." It's these moments that you break through when you move to another level, but it's god damn frustrating.


8. Step it Out! So I was helping a friend of mine, who is in this "beginner hell" and what I noticed he was missing, was moving his feet. He was so focused on the arms that he didn't step all the steps and keep his feet going. Even when I broke down just the feet, when he grabbed the girl and tried to execute, the feet were missing and he ended anchoring himself, while trying to execute with the top of his body. So remember to "step it out." This goes for the follows also who don't understand that the guys can't execute if they stop moving their feet, and in particular finish perfectly on 567. Every single time a man leads a move on 123, there will be a 567 that he'll provide for her to gain her composure. Just like with the clave rhythm, there is a certain level of call and response in partnerwork.


9. Find the instructor for you.  I had tons of bad habits that were making it tougher to cement my fundamentals and that could also be the problem. This is where a very technical, proactive instructor is vital. If you haven't gone to multiple instructors, I highly recommend it. Find the one that will literally pull you to the side and show you what you're doing wrong, as far down into detail as hand positioning, body positioning in a patern etc. I only know one or two places out of the six instructors I've been exposed to in NYC that take a proactive part in teaching, and even they don't do it as much as they do in after class practice. You need to get a few moments of personal attention from them and this is the time where you really are able to learn and are generally more comfortable in asking questions.
   
   I don't think of my teachers as just a guy I pay 20 bucks to for an hour and half. If I can't get along with them socially and be their friend, then I don't bother. I need a personal connection, because not only do I enjoy their company, but you also get perks and attention you otherwise wouldn't. If they don't give me the time of day when I have questions, because they see me as just another cash flow stream, then it's definitely not the right studio for me.


10. Discipline. Individual drive is necessary and if you're not fully invested, don't expect the investment from teachers and peers. Learn this as a lesson in life - if you truly want to get good at something; truly gain a skill, you need to work every day until you reach your goal. Let it consume you and you'll see the rewards. If you don't see improvement, begin to reflect on the amount of effort you've put in.

Class time is not enough