What to Think About While Dancing
Getting better at dance isn't just about learning more complicated steps. It's also about expanding what you're able to pay attention to while you dance.
When you first start learning to dance as a leader, you may have only one thought in your head:
Totally normal. Footwork is important.
But getting better at dance isn’t just about learning more complicated steps. It’s also about gradually expanding what you’re able to pay attention to while you dance.
Start small.
Get your footwork down. Then pay attention to whether you’re actually transferring your weight from one foot to the other.
Notice the size of your steps. Beginners tend to take BIG steps. See if you can make yours a little smaller and more controlled.
Use this guide to practice: Scroll down to the music player, where you can isolate the different instruments and start training your ear to find the beat.
Can You Hear It?
Train your ear by isolating the instruments in Salsa music and learning to recognize the beat.
EXPLORE THE MUSIC GUIDE →As those things become more automatic, something wonderful happens: you get some of your brain back.
Now you can widen your attention and advance.
The goal isn’t to graduate from the basics and leave them behind. It’s to need less conscious attention to do them well, so you have more attention available for everything else.
And that means this applies whether you’re in Salsa Level 1 or Salsa Level 4.
If something isn’t working in your dancing, don’t automatically assume you need a more advanced move.
Sometimes the thing that will make the biggest difference is revisiting the most basic elements and making sure you’re doing them perfectly on autopilot.
Put it into practice.
Work on your fundamentals, timing, connection and musicality in class at San Tropez.
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