This is the first follow up article to ‘How do I become an advanced salsa dancer?’

So how can you improve your leading and following? As this will vary depending on your level, I have broken it into two parts.

Beginners

At this stage, you have the advantage of being able to learn properly at the very beginning before you develop any bad habits. Don’t rush through the basics, listen to what is being said by the instructor and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Make sure you leave the class understanding what you have been taught and practice as much as you can prior to the next class. In your first few classes focus on your footsteps, then body positions and finally the lead. Most instructors should break down each part in turn, and you can always ask if you are unsure of any point.

I realize that repeating the basics over and over again at the beginning can get tedious, but having a strong foundation will expand your potential and allow you to progress through the higher levels at a faster pace. In our experience, the students that spend their time working on, and perfecting the basics steps and techniques, tend to become our most promising pupils.

The motivation for most instructors is seeing their students improve, so if you can demonstrate that you have the desire to learn, your instructor will probably be more motivated to give you a little more attention and will be more than willing to answer any questions you have before or after the classes.

Intermediate/Advanced

If you are a student that has been learning salsa for any length of time, your first focus is your basics; you will probably need a private class with your instructor to find your weaknesses. If you are on a budget, you should encourage your instructor to give feedback during group classes or directly afterwards, then go and practice the weaknesses he/she has highlighted. Depending on the length of time you have been dancing, you have probably engrained your bad habits deep inside your brain and it will take hard work and dedication to remove them.

The basics you will need to focus on include the foot positions, body position, hand signals and tension. Foot positions affect your body position and your body position effects your lead, and tension affects everything, so you will need to start from the feet and work upwards. Once you have mastered the basics, you can then incorporate them into all the turn patterns you have in your repertoire.

A lot of the information you will require to get to an advanced level is beyond the scope of this article and can only be learnt by taking classes, much of it will need to be tailored to the individual. This article is to try and educate dancers on how they need to dissipate the information they receive during tuition, to help them go into classes with the right attitude and to leave the classes with the right information to practice.

Look out for the second article on Styling and Body Movement which will be posted next week.

Written by James Castro

Tags: Education, Following, Leading, Learning