Chillys Blog

Part III

*Hi, if you are reading this article and you have not already read Part 1 (click here) or Part II (click here) go and read it & then come back. *

Ok Guys, we all know that Men like to be confident and think of themselves as the s**t on the dance floor. After speaking to a lot of Salsera’s, I think most Men need to seriously re-think exactly what it is that Women want on the dance floor because trust me, just like everything else in life, Men don’t know what Women want (Another article I will be exploring in the future).

So what will get women to start walking up to you and asking you to dance? Before I answer that question, just know that MOST Women will never, EVER ask you to dance regardless of how good you are because they believe its the mans Job (Sometimes you gotta wonder why they fought so hard for equal rights), but for the few that are confident enough to ask (and to make sure that the ones who aren’t never say No when you ask them to dance), Women just like Men are looking for …… Connection.

Connection for women and connection for Men mean 2 totally different things. So let’s break down what Connection Women are looking for and therefore what will help you improve your connection….

HAVE FUN……..

Contrary to what Men think, almost all Salsera’s I spoke to talked about Having Fun as the most important thing to make them want to dance with a Man again. It was not his Lead and not the amount of moves in his arsenal (which by the way is what most men think it is). Lead and Moves are still important, however these Salseras said they would rather dance with a man with limited moves who was having fun than dance with a man with lots of moves who was not enjoying himself.

So Gents, how can you show your partner you having fun on the dance floor? Let’s identify a few key factors…..

DANCE WITH HER – What do I mean? Well when most guys ask a girl to dance, even when she says yes, they end up dancing by themselves with the woman in their arms. They forget that dance is a language of communication. So for the few minutes you dance together, make her feel like the centre of the universe. Forget about how many moves you can throw at her or how many people are watching, it’s a dance between two people who are sharing a beautiful experience together.

EYE CONTACT – Staring at her boobs is a No-No. Staring at other women on the dance floor is a No-No. Staring into space – also a No-No. When you are dancing with a woman, dance with HER and maintain some eye contact. However;

• Don’t gaze deeply into her eyes – It comes across as predatorial.
• Staring at her the entire time without blinking comes across as sort of serial killer.
• Too little eye contact however comes across as disinterested.

You need to find the balance. Make eye contact every now and then and then use the rest of the time for ‘Floor craft’( Watching the floor and noticing where other couples are and how they are moving to make sure you do not send her into them or worse, into a table or wall).

MAKE HER FEEL SAFE – Don’t be creepy and respect her space. Now, how close is too close? Dancing is in essence a sensual activity, but everyone has their limits, and crossing them can have negative consequences. Just so you know, women are aware of the trick where your hand on their back keeps getting lower, and lower…and they don’t like it. Pay attention to the lady’s feedback. If her arm is around you on your shoulder blade, it’s a good sign. If, however, her left hand has wandered to the FRONT of your shoulder, and she is slightly pushing you away, you are too close.

HYGIENE – If you sweat a lot, carry a towel and an extra t-shirt or even 2 or even 3. If for some reason you do not have an extra t-shirt or towel on-hand, then make sure you take a break in-between dances to allow your body to cool down. Also, have some Roll-on and deodorant handy. Some women do not mind sweat, but bad BO bothers everyone (even the men next to you). On that note, breath mints are also useful. Remember, you are entering a woman’s personal space. You wanna smell good. As to why this point is listed under having fun? Well, it’s kind of hard to have fun when you are pressed up against someone drenched in sweat with bad Body Odour or Breath; don’t you agree?

SOLID LEAD (Gentle but Clear)

TECHNIQUE – Think of this as learning to drive a car. Nothing beats experience and you have got to pay your dues and learn (Sorry guys, no shortcuts). The more your drive the better you get, same on the dance floor.

Its also important to note, that some things are just more difficult to learn than others. Reversing is more difficult than driving straight forward; The same principle applies to moves on the dance floor. Certain moves will be more difficult to execute than others. This is how technique fits in. You have to know what level of a dancer you are and perform moves you can perfectly lead and execute. If you want to practice new moves, that is cool, but experiment with Salseras who you know well and not Salseras that you have met for the first time. People you know won’t mind and will be more forgiving if you mess up. You want to always put your best foot forward when dancing with someone new.

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY – Rather do the 6 moves you know really well than the 26 you just learned yesterday and haven’t perfected yet. However, to be fair you should throw in a couple of new moves you’re trying out, but you want to ensure the lead is solid so the lady is comfortable and relaxed. That means being sensitive and more importantly acknowledging what you can and cannot smoothly lead.

LEARN HOW SHE MOVES – Driving any car follows the same driving principles, however, you do not drive every-car exactly the same. A manual-steering car requires more effort than a power steering one. The point? Even though technique remains the same, every woman is different and thus requires a different lead. Therefore, continuously learn how she moves as you dance with her and adjust your lead accordingly.

DON’T OVER THINK – Do what you are comfortable with – You have to be confident with your lead. Make it look & feel effortless. Looking at the floor remembering moves is only ‘Cute’ if you are a beginner.

KNOW HER LEVEL – Identify her dance level and push her slightly beyond it (everyone loves a challenge). What you don’t want to do is throw combo after combo and make her feel bad about herself because she cant keep up with you and is stumbling all over the dance-floor. Tailor your arsenal to her level especially when dancing with beginners to intermediate dancers. If however, she is more advanced than you? Well then go all out and hold nothing back. 😉

What is important to note is that all Advanced Salseros have their own test to identify a Salsera’s level the very 1^st time they dance with her. I personally have a 6 step process that I will share with you today for those of you that don’t have one. Each one of these tests a different aspect of the woman’s skills. Here it is:
1. Basic Step – Can she keep timing? Does she follow? How firm does my lead have to be?
2. Cross Body – Can she follow my lead? Does she know the step?
3. Right spot Turn – Can she do a spot turn? Did she try and go left (a rookie mistake)?
4. Comb – Tests her hands reciprocation? Did she try to turn as I sent her hand over her head?
5. Left Travel Turn (Left pivot turn)- Tests her balance, skill & ability to get back on the 1.
6. Double Spot turn into a hammerlock – simultaneously tests her hand and feet co-ordination.

If she passes all 6 steps, then that usually means I have an intermediate to advanced dancer on my hands. If she is unable to follow at any point or misinterprets my lead, then I recognise her level at that point and will dance at that level.

SURPRISE – Have a nice, challenging move on hand & learn to execute it PERFECTLY. Throw it in when you dancing with a lady to spice things up, keeping an element of mystery and the unexpected in the dance. Consider it the Midas touch 😉

KEEP TRICKS FOR PERFORMANCES- Surprise having been said, remember Dancing with the stars is a show on TV and not something to be done on a social dance-floor, especially when dancing with someone you do not know extremely well. So keep the tricks and stuff to a minimum.

Musicality

Ok, Musicality has lots of meanings. I personally think its a combination of 3 things which I have listed according to importance. START WITH 1 AND WORK YOUR WAY TO 3!

1. Dance on the right beat (55%). You are either dancing on 1 or on 2. You cant just dance to some imaginary beat. Salsa dance is based on moving to the rhythm. Anything else, isn’t Salsa.

2. Listen to the song (25%). Is it Romantica (soft) or Dura (hard) or classic Salsa? Don’t just execute endless turn patterns irrespective of the music. Make sure your dance style fits the music. Understand the idea of flow and using both exertion and calmness (Ladies need a rest sometimes – so pull her in or let her go) during the song so that it does not feel like an aerobic exercise.

3. Interpret the music and play with it (20%). Feel the music with your body and hit those musical accents and feel the changes in the song and use these changes in your choreography to express it. Hitting a break in the song with a perfectly timed dip or move is magic and will do wonders for you.

OTHER HELPFUL TIPS:
These are the things that came up, but were not as important to every single Salsera. However, these are definitely things you should incorporate and are much easier to fix.

Don’t take No personally – If she says No when you ask her to dance, don’t take it personally. She could be genuinely tired. Give her sometime and space and then ask her to dance later on in the evening.

Don’t Teach on the Dance floor – Do not start correcting a lady or start teaching her how to dance or do a step on the dance floor. You know what, don’t do it after the dance either unless you know each other personally or she respects your opinion as a more advanced dancer. Just so you know – using a dance as your chance to hit on a lady and try and get her number – NOT COOL! Do that after the dance 😉 (LOL!)

Get to know each other – AFTER the dance, ask her what her name is and engage in a minute or 2 of small-talk. A lady is more than likely going to ask you to dance if she feels that she knows you. Exchanging names is the first step. P.s. Don’t stalk her back to her table and invite yourself to join her friends. A 2 minute conversation and exchanging of names is more than adequate.

Alright people, I hope you found this 3 part article on the Best Leads and followers useful.

If you wish to view the profiles of all the people who contributed to these articles, click here.

I got feedback from 11 Advanced Salseras from Cape Town, Joburg, USA and Switzerland. A Big thanks to all of you.

I would especially like to thank 2 International Salseras’ who took the time to contribute:

Josie Neglia a.k.a. the Princess of Salsa. (Latin Dance) She is a Salsa Legend who has been in the Salsa scene since 1990 and pioneered the Salsa Video industry …….. and Jocelyn Rosero Co-host of Addicted2Salsa.com

Next Salsa article will be on Salsa Congresses. Keep an eye out….

Part II

*Hey peeps, if you are reading this article and did not read Part 1 (click here) to go check it out & then come back. You know, I got a lot of pressure from the Salseras to put this article out ASAP, so I am publishing this 2 days earlier than expected. Enjoy ladies 😉 *

Before I get into it, I would like to tell you how the idea for this article came about. A female friend of mine once asked me, ‘On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy dancing with me?’. At first I thought this was a trick question, however, after speaking to her and digging deeper I realised she enjoyed dancing with me so much, she wanted to make sure I was having just as much fun as she was. Adding on to that, she wanted to know what she could improve on while on the dance floor so that after a guy dances with her, they would keep coming back for more.
Thus the idea was born & the research begun. Now to answer her question and inevitably, every lady’s out there:

On the Dance Floor, everyone is looking for 1 thing, CONNECTION. So I went in search of the specific things that make up this “Connection”.

Please remember, for this article I spoke to really good Salseros both locally and internationally. Salseros who are never short of ladies to dance with and who ladies will actually walk up to and ask them to dance.

I searched long and hard for this info & there is plenty of it, but as this is a blog i will keep it abridged yet insightful. Disclaimer: I am not going to hold back any punches, I am going to say it as it is for those women who really want to get better. This is what all the Guys have wanted to say, and just never had the guts to. Time for some tough love…..

REALLY FOLLOW (the universally most important thing for a Salsera to do):

This sounds obvious does it not? However, what this follow means is much more than just following the man’s lead. It means:-

FEEL: Women should feel instead of think. Following in this sense refers to feeling the lead and the rhythm, not thinking what does the man want me to do now? This kind of following requires a lady to be totally receptive.

Imagine the Leader is like a radio station sending out signals or sound waves, and you the Follower are like a radio with it’s antenna totally receptive. The whole dance is the interplay of opposites but these opposites need to blend together to work in harmony and become one, just like the yin-yang symbol.

Below are some of the following techniques that can help you Ladies achieve this:-

HANDS: A lady should have hands that keep a solid connection yet do not push or weigh the man down. You should keep your arms slightly relaxed (Stiff or Spaghetti arms are not cool), so that they can respond instantly to the man’s lead. Learn to understand reciprocation of tone (when the man’s arm tenses up, you reciprocate by giving more tone in your arms, and when his arms relax, your arms should relax also.)

HOOKS: Keep those hooks ladies. It’s the man’s job to let go of your hand when he desires. Trust me, there is nothing more frustrating for the man than planning the perfect move and having it interrupted because the Lady decided to straighten her hand at the most critical moment. On the other hand (no pun intended 😀 ), don’t grab to the man’s hand like your life depended on it either.

DON’T STYLE AT HIS EXPENSE: While we all love women who can style and play with the music, beware  when you start using a dance as a chance to show off your styling and focus on making yourself look good instead of the dance feeling good. While other women will admire your styling, the men will say you are a nightmare to lead.

DON’T BE A PREDICTOR (Refer to predictors in part 1): If something goes wrong in the middle of your dance, just find the beat and get right back into it. Don’t stop the dance to try and figure out what the step was or ask the man to explain what he was trying to do, rather wait till the song is over.

LINE OR CIRCLE?: Dance in a straight line or in ‘the slot’ when dancing with an LA or New York Lead. Move in a circle when dancing with a Cuban Lead. Don’t chop and change when it suits you.

BE AWARE: Keep spotting the man’s face with your eyes so you can follow with ease ready for the next lead. A good rule of thumb, 70% of his lead is in the arms the other 30% is in his body language.

When you are on a full social dance floor, be aware of your surroundings. Don’t take HUGE steps or spin wildly out of control. Adjust your movement to suit your surroundings so the man can still enjoy dancing with you in a restricted dance space knowing you will not wipe out the couples dancing next to you or spin your way into a wall. 😉

ATTITUDE

SMILE! You are not on camera, but the man you are dancing with is subconsciously judging himself based on your facial expressions and body language.  If you smile and show him you are having fun and give him a ‘happy look‘ and start to ‘play’, it will encourage him and he will definitely be asking you to dance more often. If on the other hand, you are rolling your eyes, or look bored out of your mind & can’t wait for the song to end, don’t be surprised if you never see him asking you to dance once the song is over. Remember, Good dancers usually have plenty of options of people to dance with.

Play with the Music! It’s nice to dance with a woman who can interpret the music and have fun with it and with the man. So start learning to style and play on the dance floor ladies, it will do wonders for your dancing & your confidence.

CARRY YOURSELF:

Carry your own weight ladies. Keep your weight forward on the balls of your feet as this will help you remain light and turn with ease. A man’s job is to lead on the dance floor. The less he has to baby sit you = The more he can do with you. The more he can do with you = The more he will want to dance with you.

Ladies that are able to complete their turns and keep their balance by themselves are more sought after to dance. (Because, let’s be honest; most men are Lazy).

With this thought in mind, remember practice makes perfect. Men hear lots of Ladies say they only do Social dancing and they do not need to do any Group / Private Classes. Dancing is an art-form and just like any art-form, you need practice.

To illustrate, imagine a really good singer. They start off singing at home in the shower, then they start to sing anywhere and everywhere they can. At some point they start to take their singing really seriously and actually start setting aside time every week to practice on their voice and eventually they are able to and start to sing and perform in public. Now imagine that once they start performing in public, they stop practicing & the only time they ever sing is when they are in-front of an audience.  How long do you think they will stay good singers? Social Dancing is just like when the singer is performing. Going to group or private classes or practicing is just like a singer rehearsing & practicing their voice.

Social Dancing is only 50% of what makes you a good follower, the other 50% is up to you improving your own skills and dance ability. You can do this via Group /Private Classes or alternatively if you are at a certain level you can do this by practicing yourself.  A good rule of thumb to check your level: If you can do a triple spot turn (and actually stay on the spot) by yourself without falling over and you and can do multiple travel turns in a straight line without getting dizzy, you can probably do your own skills training. However, if you can’t even control yourself in a double spot turn, you should definitely still be attending classes and working on your technique because you need it.

OTHER HELPFUL TIPS:
These are the things that came up, but were not as important to every man. However, these are definitely things you should incorporate and are much easier to fix.

Social etiquette – Its ok to say No if you don’t want to dance with a man. However, be nice about it. Don’t say ‘NO’ to one man, then 5 seconds later be shaking it up on the dance floor with another. That’s just rude.  Not only will the guy you said No to probably never ask you to dance again, but he will tell his friends (who might be the good dancers you want to dance with) and they will never ask you to dance either. On a side-note, if you are saying NO to dance with a Man because his lead physically hurts you or he has bad B.O. (Body ordour) or Breath, do him a favour and find someone you both know in common so they can give him the heads up. 😉 You would be surprised to find out how some men never know the reason why certain women always turn them down when they ask for a dance.

Dance with beginners – Remember, these will be tomorrow’s Great dancers. The more attention you give them now, the more they will owe you in the future. They will be your dance slaves ready to do your bidding on the dance floor whenever you call. (LOL)

Show you can dance – If you can dance and no one ever asks you to dance, it is probably because they don’t know you can dance. So stand by the edge of the dance floor and start doing a basic step with some spot turns. If you are doing it on time to the music and show musicality by hitting some breaks every now and then, I guarantee men will be asking you to dance in No time.

Look Good and Smell Good. Nuff said. On a side note, no one minds a little sweat, but if you know that you get really sweaty or have sweaty palms, freshen up in the course of the evening. (Not only Men need to do this you know.)

That wraps up Part II. If you wish to view the profiles of all the Salseros who contributed to this article, click here. (*A Special Thanks to all the Salseros who took time out of their busy schedules to give me such Great feedback.*)

Alright Men, I take you apart and put you back together next week. So all you Wannabe’s, here is PART III

PEOPLE WHO CONTRIBUTED

A Big thanks to all of you. Without your help this article would not have come about.

I got feedback from over 18 Advanced Salseros in Cape Town, Joburg, Zambia and Canada And 11 Advanced Salseras from Cape Town, Joburg, USA and Switzerland. A Big thanks to all of you.

INTERNATIONAL SALSEROS

Below are the names and profiles of  the International Salseros & Salseras who provided me with awesome feedback. A SPECIAL Big thanks to all of you.

Marchant Birch – Alchemy Dance Academy

Marchant was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa. He was trained in Ballroom from the age of 7 up to competitive professional level. He won numerous competitions in Ballroom and Street Dance, and was winner of the National Cape Jazz Championship 1999 in South Africa, competing against over 500 couples.

On taking up salsa he understood the need to learn the dance form from its authentic Latino roots and has trained with the Worlds best Puerto Ricans, New Yoricans, Dominicans and Cubans. He was invited to start teaching and performing salsa in the UK in 2001 and has since become one of the most sought after teachers & performers in the UK and internationally. Marchant is also the 1st and only representative of South Africa in the international salsa community.

In 2005 Marchant’s choreography of Tito Puente’s ‘Take Five’ received high acclaim from the Mambo King himself, Eddie Torres. It was considered a ground-breaking choreography at the time for its flowing use of line and arms, and intricate musical interpretation. The influence of this can be seen today in UK salsa performances

Marchant and Davina together formed Alchemy Dance Company in 2005.

In 2006 they launched Alchemy Dance Academy, giving the salsa public the opportunity to improve their dancing by way of the Alchemy method of dance training.

Mark Anthony Sheppard – MAS Mambo

Originally from Canada, Mark started dancing in 1999 and learnt from a school called United Salseros. Mark founded Mambo Tribe in March 2003 with his partner at the time Stephanie. By November of that year they formed their dance company.

His new dance company’s name is called MAS Mambo Latin Dance Company. “MAS” stands for Mark-Anthony Sheppard. He is a full-time Instructor, performer and Choreographer and travels the World over teaching and performing Salsa.

Anthony Persuad – Addicted 2 Salsa

Anthony is the Founder of addicted2salsa.  Though he grew up in Puerto Rico, Anthony taught himself how to salsa dance during his college days at Iowa State University.  He and his good friends created the club Descarga Latin Dance at Iowa State University, bringing Salsa to Iowa State with weekly lessons, social dancing, and choreographed routines. Realizing how many people around the world have limited access to salsa instruction, Anthony started Addicted2Salsa to make salsa dancing accessible to all who wish to learn.  Anthony now works as a Senior Computer Engineer in San Diego (many are surprised to discover that the website is not his full-time job!)

View Anthony’s article on the top 10 habits to avoid at the Salsa Club by clicking here

Seaon ‘Stylist’ Bristol

Seaon Bristol, pronounced see-on and often referred to as Seaon Stylist, is a renowned salsa dancer, choreographer, and instructor living in Los Angeles, California. He is probably best known for being a pioneer in the role of being a male follower, a position traditionally reserved for women.

Seaon actually learned how to follow before he learned how to lead, in his estimation, for an entire year and a half prior. He started taking following classes in salsa at Razz M’ Tazz Dance Company a place where he would eventually teach the art of following. He went on to study with and dance for famous salsa dancer and teacher Eddie Torres . It only took Torres one lesson to realize Seaon’s dancing talent. Torres would invite Seaon to join his company and a mentorship ensued.

INTERNATIONAL SALSERAS

Josie Neglia (Latin Dance)

Also known as the Princess of Salsa, Josie started her dance career in 1989 when she graduated with a Bachelors degree and entered the ballroom/Latin field as a teacher.

Entering a Toronto Latin club, for the first time in 1990, Josie fell in love with Salsa.

In 1993, she relocated to Los Angeles and single-handedly became a pioneer of the salsa video industry.

In 1996, JOSIE NEGLIA WAS THE FIRST IN LOS ANGELES TO PRODUCE L.A.STYLE SALSA INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS, and marketed then worldwide through her website LatinDance.com.

Due to her presence on the internet and through her instructional video series, Josie became one of the most sought-after instructors and performers worldwide.  Josie is known for her easy-to-learn teaching methods and spectacular performance ability.

In August 2005, Josie decided to fulfill her life-long dream of opening her own Dance Academy that would be the center of dance for young and young-at-heart.  Latin Dance Academy is fulfilling Josie’s dream of “Teaching the World to Dance ~ One Step at a Time.”

Jocelyn Rosero

Co-host of Addicted2Salsa. com (with Anthony mentioned above). Jocelyn first learned to dance salsa in college while studying abroad in Spain. She fell in love with salsa dance and continued to pursue her interest once she returned home. She has studied and performed in various dance companies in both Cuban casino style and Mambo/Salsa On 2. She is currently lives in San Diego, pursuing a degree in nursing by day and dancing by night.

This post is dedicated to – What makes the best Leaders (Salseros) and Followers (Salseras) on the social Salsa dance floor…..

Due to the large amount of useful information that I have gathered, this post will have to be split as follows –

1. Part I –  The 5 different types of Leaders & Followers
2. Part II – What should Ladies do on the dance floor to get Guys lining up to dance with them?
3. Part III – What should Guys do on the dance floor to get Women to start asking them to dance?

If you have not figured it out yet, this article is about helping people identify what it takes to become the best dancer that they can possibly be. Part 1 will focus on identifying the 5 different kinds of salsa dancers, while part 2 & 3 will give the best advice possible on how you can become a better dancer. To stay objective, I am not writing my personal opinion in these articles, instead I have and still am carrying out detailed research speaking to some of the Best Salseros and Salseras in the Salsa scene; getting the opinion of Teachers, Advanced Dancers & Performers not only in Cape Town, but in  Johannesburg and from all over the World in countries like Canada, UK & the US just to name a few.

I have already spoken to some of the best salsa dancers in South Africa and I have also received feedback from 3 International Dancers with quite a bit more feedback still coming. This will be an interesting article to say the least, as a matter of fact, some of the responses I have already gotten are so brilliant that I will definitely have to publish them as separate articles in the future.

So Let’s get down to it, what are the 5 different kinds of Leaders and Followers? These categories have been designed based on information gathered for part 2 and 3 of this article. Before I break it down, I would just like to state:

1. These categories have nothing to do with your skill level. There are beginners, intermediate and advanced dancers that fall into any of the categories listed below.
2. People can sometimes move from one category to another depending on the song, their mood or even their dance partner.
3. These are opinions, they are meant to inspire and encourage you & maybe spark some debate. So have fun, laugh and enjoy it as you read it and maybe you will learn from it. Remember life is too short to take everything seriously. 😉

Now, let’s get into it. My Mum always told me, Ladies first – 🙂

The 5 different kind of Salseras :-

The Interpreter – This is the Lady on the dance floor who interprets what the man leads down to a tee. She waits for the lead to indicate what the man wants her to do and then she executes it flawlessly. She is light on her feet and an absolute pleasure to dance with. However, she constantly wants the man to lead and direct her and therefore she does not do well when left to her own devices.

The Dancer – She is just like ‘The Interpreter’ mentioned above but with one main difference; when she dances, she engages the man she is dancing with. She not only smiles and plays off the music, she is capable of both following and being independent. So if the man does ever leave her alone to her own devices, she will shine strong as an independent woman.

The Reactor – This is the type of follower that does not really follow. What she does is maintain an extremely tight frame that enables her to react to the man rather than follows his lead. Reactors therefore require a REALLY strong lead because they are basically being carried around the dance floor. Dancing with reactors feels like you are in a  WWE wrestling match. (It Really does…)

The Predictor – This one is a really tricky one to spot. They could appear to be ‘Interpreters’ or even ‘Dancers’, the only real way to spot them is:

a)      They will normally finish off a move before the man actually executes it, such as when a man does a hand flick or sends her into a Copa.

b)      If they get sent into a move they are unable to accurately predict, they will literally stop the man from executing it instead of just following his lead.

The Maverick – This is the 1 category that if you are in ladies, you need to get out of and quick. Maverick ladies are ladies who do whatever they want to on the dance floor. They do not follow the mans lead. As an example, a man could be dancing with a simple basic step and they would suddenly burst out into a spot turn without being led into it. A man could be trying to execute a normal cross body, and they decide to make it a travel turn instead. A man wants to lead on the dance floor, and Mavericks don’t allow him to do that.

There is however 1 positive thing about Mavericks, there is never a dull moment on the dance floor because you never know what is going to come next.

Alright, Ladies its time to break down the Men!

The 5 different kind of Salseros:-

The Care-taker – This is a Leader who has a firm yet gentle lead and is very clear on the dance floor as to what he wants the lady to do. He takes care of the lady on the dance floor, learns how she moves so he can lead her in a way that she will enjoy and that is easy for her to follow. He takes notice of her skill level and pulls out enough moves to challenge her, yet not push her beyond her limits so that she always looks good on the dance floor.

The Man – The Man is ‘The Care-taker’ with one main difference. He allows the lady to play with the music every now and then and to express herself. He takes care of her, while still allowing her enough space & independence to do her own thing when she wants or needs to.

The Showoff –  This  leader usually has lots of moves and perfect timing. They could easily appear to be ‘Care-takers’ or ‘The Man’.

The only way to spot a show off? They always dance flashy and they do not adjust their lead to suit the lady they are dancing with even if they lady is not at his skill level. For example, if all a lady can do is a single spot turn, the showoff will try and send her into a triple spot turn and everyone will see the lady is not looking nearly as graceful as she should be.  ‘Who knows what he thinks would happen? Maybe he believes in Miracles?’

Showoffs dance for themselves and to make themselves look good and unfortunately do not really care about the lady as much as they should. Sometimes they may even execute a move that bumps their partner into another couple (So not cool).

The Wannabe – If you are in this category, get out of it and fast. This type of Leader (if you can even call it that) tries to execute an endless number of complex moves and turn patterns and normally at the expense of lead and timing. They basically want to be a Showoff without the Skill level that is necessary to be in that league. My only advice to you, in the words of a World Class Salsera – ‘Rather lead & execute 6 moves perfectly than do 60 moves terribly.’

Mr. Inappropriate – This leader has one main difference from all the others, they tend to put women in compromising positions on the dance floor and their hands may wander and lead the woman from places where they should not.  Remember, when you are dancing Salsa, a woman allows you into her personal space. Additionally as a follower, she is placing her trust in you. Don’t abuse her trust by doing inappropriate things to her on the dance floor. This is NOT COOL! Respect her personal space and respect her.

On the other hand, if the woman you are dancing with is your Girl-friend or someone you are flirting with & she is flirting back with you – well then, who are we to judge? 😉

So now that we have broken down the 5 Categories, LADIES, what can you do on the Dance Floor that will get Salseros lining up to Dance with you?

Well, to get the answer to that question click here for PART II….