Showing posts with label Salsa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Salsa. Show all posts
Friday, August 7, 2009
Off Balance
I didn't exactly have an "off" night yesterday at Salsa, as much as it was an "off balance" night. My shoes have been due for repair for quite a while, and not finding the time to do it has effectively translated into me feeling like a cow on an ice-skating rink. I'm too lazy to write today, so I'll keep this short and sweet and just say that people aren't the only ones who have "off balance" moments. Check out this poor guy:
Monday, August 3, 2009
What makes a good Salsa night.
I already wrote about what makes a bad Salsa night. And as I don't really want to come off as a horrible pain-in-the-butt complainer, I feel like it's my duty to write the reverse of that story and break down what makes an "On" night. Plus, as if to make up for that extra-horrible one, I've had good ones for the last week and a half. But last night was exceptional. So naturally what else would I be inspired to write about?
A good salsa night starts inside you. You'll never have one if you're feeling too sad/fat/skinny/clumsy/overdressed/underdressed/guilty/jealous or anything else that'd restrict you from being your natural bubbly self. I've found that a genuine smile goes a LOOOOOOONG way and the only way to produce one is to completely not care what anyone else thinks and just enjoy the music, dancing, and atmosphere.
I tried to think of more criteria for what makes a good salsa night, but quickly realized that all it is is a few milestone moments that put a smile on your face. I have three in mind from yesterday, which, of course, won't be applicable to anyone else, but oh well. It's my blog :)
A good night is when you can act like ten-year olds with a bunch of your friends at a practica and pretty much do whatever to just have fun. (Anna, Carlette, Michael, Jim, Tuo and Jim.... you know what I'm talking about ;) After all, toning up the skills of cutting in on a dance, as if to practice for your birthday, is equally as important as perfecting your turns. And then there's all those body rolls and hip-hop moves to master! Those, if synchronized, or done for the first time (or the fifteenth that looks like it's your first), will get you lots of laughs of approval. That's what practicas are for anyways, right?
Then there is a moment that makes you feel like you're in a classic film. Live Jazz is playing, and the music is so moving that you simply can't sit still. Luckily, your favorite lead is right in front of you, so you can just grab him and lose yourself in the dance. And then another one. And another one. And your dress is twirling, and that genuine smile automatically comes on and stays until your cheeks start hurting. Because the rhythm of the music is so good, and he is so completely comfortable to dance with...
And of course there is that moment of unexpected excitement when someone you never thought you'd EVER be good enough to dance with asks you for one (without a prompt). What makes it even better is that somehow you manage to relax and enjoy yourself instead of being anxious and nervous. And that's when the magic happens and you can fully appreciate his incredible skill and sense of timing -- a rare find on the floor. Leading your first step on a five instead of one after a combination? Not a chance! And the preps for the spins are timed precisely to a mille-second, so you know exactly how many he's going to fit in there, because it works so well with the music. When the lead has such an impeccable sense of timing you start to appreciate Salsa on an entirely different level. The experience is priceless.
Lastly... of course I couldn't leave even one post without a complaint. This is for all the leads out there who keep holding on with their thumbs... please stop hurting me! Nobody will die if I slip away from you during a turn. But there's really no reason for me to be leaving Century with bruises on my hands after an otherwise perfect night.
But even pain can't spoil a good night :)
Bruises:
In case you missed them:
A good salsa night starts inside you. You'll never have one if you're feeling too sad/fat/skinny/clumsy/overdressed/underdressed/guilty/jealous or anything else that'd restrict you from being your natural bubbly self. I've found that a genuine smile goes a LOOOOOOONG way and the only way to produce one is to completely not care what anyone else thinks and just enjoy the music, dancing, and atmosphere.
I tried to think of more criteria for what makes a good salsa night, but quickly realized that all it is is a few milestone moments that put a smile on your face. I have three in mind from yesterday, which, of course, won't be applicable to anyone else, but oh well. It's my blog :)
A good night is when you can act like ten-year olds with a bunch of your friends at a practica and pretty much do whatever to just have fun. (Anna, Carlette, Michael, Jim, Tuo and Jim.... you know what I'm talking about ;) After all, toning up the skills of cutting in on a dance, as if to practice for your birthday, is equally as important as perfecting your turns. And then there's all those body rolls and hip-hop moves to master! Those, if synchronized, or done for the first time (or the fifteenth that looks like it's your first), will get you lots of laughs of approval. That's what practicas are for anyways, right?
Then there is a moment that makes you feel like you're in a classic film. Live Jazz is playing, and the music is so moving that you simply can't sit still. Luckily, your favorite lead is right in front of you, so you can just grab him and lose yourself in the dance. And then another one. And another one. And your dress is twirling, and that genuine smile automatically comes on and stays until your cheeks start hurting. Because the rhythm of the music is so good, and he is so completely comfortable to dance with...
And of course there is that moment of unexpected excitement when someone you never thought you'd EVER be good enough to dance with asks you for one (without a prompt). What makes it even better is that somehow you manage to relax and enjoy yourself instead of being anxious and nervous. And that's when the magic happens and you can fully appreciate his incredible skill and sense of timing -- a rare find on the floor. Leading your first step on a five instead of one after a combination? Not a chance! And the preps for the spins are timed precisely to a mille-second, so you know exactly how many he's going to fit in there, because it works so well with the music. When the lead has such an impeccable sense of timing you start to appreciate Salsa on an entirely different level. The experience is priceless.
Lastly... of course I couldn't leave even one post without a complaint. This is for all the leads out there who keep holding on with their thumbs... please stop hurting me! Nobody will die if I slip away from you during a turn. But there's really no reason for me to be leaving Century with bruises on my hands after an otherwise perfect night.
But even pain can't spoil a good night :)
Bruises:
In case you missed them:
Friday, July 24, 2009
"Off" Night of a Salsera
I've been MIA for a while because I'm now officially dealing with a crisis. Of course, I first successfully created the crisis. In the beginning of the week I devoured Jane Eyre. I've never read it in English, and was pleasantly surprised to find it an easy read that pulls you in until the very last word. I soon found myself buried in a pile of work bigger than Manhattan, and the rest of the week was spent plowing through e-mails, and exterminating immediate fires on my desk. Going out Salsa dancing really late on a Thursday isn't helping my progress any. But since I can't possibly concentrate on anything I HAVE to do while functioning on four hours of sleep, I figured might as well do something I DON'T have to do, and write. Maybe it'll wake me up and stir the creative juices required for a million hours of excel work awaiting me.
The saddest thing is that getting little sleep wasn't worth it, because yesterday I officially had an "off" night. The follows who've had one will commiserate, and the ones who haven't will be grateful once they hit it, because they'll know that they're not the only ones who've had to deal with one. (I don't know if leads have "off" nights. Do they?) "Off" nights can happen at any time during Salsera's career as a follow, and there is no telling when they'll occur or how to prevent them from happening. In case you are wondering: an "off" night is when everything that you can possibly imagine goes wrong. And it never gets better. Although I should've been smarter yesterday, and left before it got worse.
It all started the night before, when I realized that I don't have an outfit planned out. Usually I can visualize exactly what I'll be wearing for the dance. Not this time. In the morning I found myself staring at my closet, absolutely stupefied by its contents. I ended up throwing five or six random items in a bag, and heading off to work (not much time for trying things on in the morning...)
When I got to Salsa, I did a very brave (and stupid) thing and asked to dance with a lead whom I just met, but have been observing for a while and saw that he's phenomenal. Follows... It's just not wise to do that for your first dance. The excitement of the floor, combined with a realization that I'm starving, made me feel lightheaded, and lose my concentration. As soon as I gained it back for a moment, it hit me that my heels are way overdue for a visit to the shoe doctor. So in addition to being hungry and generally lost, I was also wobbly and unstable. Way to make a first impression.
The night continued in this fashion. The usually talkative DJ was at his unusual vivacity and didn't shut up for even a second the entire night. The rare good songs were ruined by the horrible leads that asked me for them. My usual comfy leads were nowhere to be found or somehow missed me (I do have a tendency to travel a bit much...). My current Salsa "crush" (they come and go) broke my heart by leaving early with an extra-large woman of questionable fashion sense. Hence I didn’t get a single dance in with him. As to make up for that, the scary creep whom I was trying to avoid successfully found me in the darkest corner of the ballroom and asked to dance. The only two leads who were actually good managed to invite me for the shortest songs.
I did have a break when an atypical set of circumstances made me dance with a perfect lead from class for three songs in a row. But of course, I couldn't keep him glued to myself the entire night. The rest of the guys were an epitome of my worst nightmare. I'm anal about starting AND CONTINUING on the right beat. Doesn't matter if it's on one or on two (although I don't really have that much experience starting on two.) I consider counting to be my biggest strength in Salsa, and I've never had to concentrate on getting it right. The rhythm is just IN me. The majority of the leads I danced with yesterday started on one, but continued on one, two, three, five, AND seven! As my friend Juliet wisely put it... "following a lead who isn't following the beat is like following a husband who isn't following God". It's hard!
The cherry on the top was the last dance. The gentleman who asked me evoked a vague feeling of alarm, but I couldn't quite remember why exactly I didn't want to dance with him. So I said yes. He was a good lead, except for the fact that most of the time he stared at my chest (Do you see a pattern here guys? Stop doing it!), and when he did look in my eyes it was with that nasty, perverted, piercing glare. I was about to get excited when a lead dancing next to us tapped him on the shoulder and made him switch partners (extremely unconventional practice) because I figured I'm now safe from Sir Stares-A-Lot. Turns out the guy was completely wasted, and as soon as I let go of him, he'd kind of slide backward, almost hitting the oblivious innocent bydancers. Luckily the song ended pretty fast. But talk about humiliation!
But the good news is that very soon (keeping fingers crossed) I won't have to endure an hour-long commute after nights like this. If all goes well, I'll be moving to the city within a month. But now it's time for me to return to extinguishing office fires and wrestling with excel.
The saddest thing is that getting little sleep wasn't worth it, because yesterday I officially had an "off" night. The follows who've had one will commiserate, and the ones who haven't will be grateful once they hit it, because they'll know that they're not the only ones who've had to deal with one. (I don't know if leads have "off" nights. Do they?) "Off" nights can happen at any time during Salsera's career as a follow, and there is no telling when they'll occur or how to prevent them from happening. In case you are wondering: an "off" night is when everything that you can possibly imagine goes wrong. And it never gets better. Although I should've been smarter yesterday, and left before it got worse.
It all started the night before, when I realized that I don't have an outfit planned out. Usually I can visualize exactly what I'll be wearing for the dance. Not this time. In the morning I found myself staring at my closet, absolutely stupefied by its contents. I ended up throwing five or six random items in a bag, and heading off to work (not much time for trying things on in the morning...)
When I got to Salsa, I did a very brave (and stupid) thing and asked to dance with a lead whom I just met, but have been observing for a while and saw that he's phenomenal. Follows... It's just not wise to do that for your first dance. The excitement of the floor, combined with a realization that I'm starving, made me feel lightheaded, and lose my concentration. As soon as I gained it back for a moment, it hit me that my heels are way overdue for a visit to the shoe doctor. So in addition to being hungry and generally lost, I was also wobbly and unstable. Way to make a first impression.
The night continued in this fashion. The usually talkative DJ was at his unusual vivacity and didn't shut up for even a second the entire night. The rare good songs were ruined by the horrible leads that asked me for them. My usual comfy leads were nowhere to be found or somehow missed me (I do have a tendency to travel a bit much...). My current Salsa "crush" (they come and go) broke my heart by leaving early with an extra-large woman of questionable fashion sense. Hence I didn’t get a single dance in with him. As to make up for that, the scary creep whom I was trying to avoid successfully found me in the darkest corner of the ballroom and asked to dance. The only two leads who were actually good managed to invite me for the shortest songs.
I did have a break when an atypical set of circumstances made me dance with a perfect lead from class for three songs in a row. But of course, I couldn't keep him glued to myself the entire night. The rest of the guys were an epitome of my worst nightmare. I'm anal about starting AND CONTINUING on the right beat. Doesn't matter if it's on one or on two (although I don't really have that much experience starting on two.) I consider counting to be my biggest strength in Salsa, and I've never had to concentrate on getting it right. The rhythm is just IN me. The majority of the leads I danced with yesterday started on one, but continued on one, two, three, five, AND seven! As my friend Juliet wisely put it... "following a lead who isn't following the beat is like following a husband who isn't following God". It's hard!
The cherry on the top was the last dance. The gentleman who asked me evoked a vague feeling of alarm, but I couldn't quite remember why exactly I didn't want to dance with him. So I said yes. He was a good lead, except for the fact that most of the time he stared at my chest (Do you see a pattern here guys? Stop doing it!), and when he did look in my eyes it was with that nasty, perverted, piercing glare. I was about to get excited when a lead dancing next to us tapped him on the shoulder and made him switch partners (extremely unconventional practice) because I figured I'm now safe from Sir Stares-A-Lot. Turns out the guy was completely wasted, and as soon as I let go of him, he'd kind of slide backward, almost hitting the oblivious innocent bydancers. Luckily the song ended pretty fast. But talk about humiliation!
But the good news is that very soon (keeping fingers crossed) I won't have to endure an hour-long commute after nights like this. If all goes well, I'll be moving to the city within a month. But now it's time for me to return to extinguishing office fires and wrestling with excel.
Monday, July 20, 2009
The Naked Cowgirls of Salsa (This post is as clean as it gets. Don't worry :)
Over the past few days I've encountered a couple situations which made me realize that some people have a serious malfunction. In their wardrobe.
I brought a friend to the outdoor dancing at Occidental Park last Thursday. It was her first time at a Salsa function, and I was hoping for a wonderful first impression. But the first words out of her mouth were "Hey, check out that girl in the black dress dancing over there. You can see her underwear when she spins! I just hope she isn't wearing a thong. Yup. She's wearing a thong!!! Stacy! OMG! That's so funny!" Funny wasn't exactly what I was going for in an introduction to the wonderful world of Salsa. Sophisticated. Fun. Lively. Inspiring... But not inappropriate and certainly not funny!
Fast forward three days and you'll find me at another Salsa event. There aren't that many people here, and I'm having the time of my life with a wonderful lead. All of a sudden, this normally extremely attentive man forgets to let me know what's coming next and upon glancing at his gaze I see that he's completely taken by something other than our dancing. "Oh! Sorry, I got a little distracted," he offers apologetically. I turn around to check out the source of distraction and see a girl in cowboy boots and a long shirt. I would be thrilled to tell you that she was attractive, ugly, tall, short, blond or brunette. But unfortunately the only feature that stuck out to me (as well as the rest of the floor) was that she wasn't wearing any pants. That's right. NO PANTS! Even I lost concentration. What WOULD anyone expect of a normal guy!
Girls, just as I reminded the young creepster at practica that my eyes are a little further up than he was looking, I would like to remind you that Salsa functions are not clubs. Especially the ones taking place at public venues, such as a park in the middle of downtown. There are kids there! (And there WERE kids at both places I just talked about.) When you go shopping for that perfect Salsa dress, take a spin in the fitting room! Take a spin, and then a sudden stop, and see if the dress is showing your underwear. If it is, DON'T BUY IT. And if for any reason you still can't part with the dress, at least don't wear a thong! As unattractive as you might feel wearing boy-shorts or hip-huggers... the rest of the world just doesn't want a free show from you. I know they say the best things in life are free... but that's not exactly the case here. And a long shirt is NOT considered to be a dress. Nobody should be going outside wearing that in the first place. Much less should they be stopping by a Salsa scene and dancing dressed like that. Oh. My bad. Undressed like that.
I don't really understand the motives either. If these girls want attention... isn't 4-5 minutes of dancing with a man who's concentrated solely on you enough? Or are they simply incapable of holding his attention for that long without taking something off? If they just don't realize it... Don't they have mirrors? Maybe friends who will kindly tell them they look ridiculous? Or maybe they are trying to become a female version of the Naked Cowboy.(http://www.nakedcowboy.com/akki/)I guess nobody mentioned to them that Occidental Park is no Times Square. I'm flabbergasted... But I hope that they read this post and start buying clothes that cover their bodies. At least in parts that are meant to be covered AT ALL TIMES.
Have some respect girls. If not for yourselves, at least for the people trying to have some clean fun around you. Thanks!
I brought a friend to the outdoor dancing at Occidental Park last Thursday. It was her first time at a Salsa function, and I was hoping for a wonderful first impression. But the first words out of her mouth were "Hey, check out that girl in the black dress dancing over there. You can see her underwear when she spins! I just hope she isn't wearing a thong. Yup. She's wearing a thong!!! Stacy! OMG! That's so funny!" Funny wasn't exactly what I was going for in an introduction to the wonderful world of Salsa. Sophisticated. Fun. Lively. Inspiring... But not inappropriate and certainly not funny!
Fast forward three days and you'll find me at another Salsa event. There aren't that many people here, and I'm having the time of my life with a wonderful lead. All of a sudden, this normally extremely attentive man forgets to let me know what's coming next and upon glancing at his gaze I see that he's completely taken by something other than our dancing. "Oh! Sorry, I got a little distracted," he offers apologetically. I turn around to check out the source of distraction and see a girl in cowboy boots and a long shirt. I would be thrilled to tell you that she was attractive, ugly, tall, short, blond or brunette. But unfortunately the only feature that stuck out to me (as well as the rest of the floor) was that she wasn't wearing any pants. That's right. NO PANTS! Even I lost concentration. What WOULD anyone expect of a normal guy!
Girls, just as I reminded the young creepster at practica that my eyes are a little further up than he was looking, I would like to remind you that Salsa functions are not clubs. Especially the ones taking place at public venues, such as a park in the middle of downtown. There are kids there! (And there WERE kids at both places I just talked about.) When you go shopping for that perfect Salsa dress, take a spin in the fitting room! Take a spin, and then a sudden stop, and see if the dress is showing your underwear. If it is, DON'T BUY IT. And if for any reason you still can't part with the dress, at least don't wear a thong! As unattractive as you might feel wearing boy-shorts or hip-huggers... the rest of the world just doesn't want a free show from you. I know they say the best things in life are free... but that's not exactly the case here. And a long shirt is NOT considered to be a dress. Nobody should be going outside wearing that in the first place. Much less should they be stopping by a Salsa scene and dancing dressed like that. Oh. My bad. Undressed like that.
I don't really understand the motives either. If these girls want attention... isn't 4-5 minutes of dancing with a man who's concentrated solely on you enough? Or are they simply incapable of holding his attention for that long without taking something off? If they just don't realize it... Don't they have mirrors? Maybe friends who will kindly tell them they look ridiculous? Or maybe they are trying to become a female version of the Naked Cowboy.(http://www.nakedcowboy.com/akki/)I guess nobody mentioned to them that Occidental Park is no Times Square. I'm flabbergasted... But I hope that they read this post and start buying clothes that cover their bodies. At least in parts that are meant to be covered AT ALL TIMES.
Have some respect girls. If not for yourselves, at least for the people trying to have some clean fun around you. Thanks!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The Characters of Salsa
Ok, so by now probably all of you know that I take Salsa. I didn't start that long ago, and therefore didn't consider myself expert enough to write about it. Then I noticed how my perception of Salsa changed over time and decided that it'd be fun to read what I used to think. So here's a break down of all the characters I've spotted on the dance floor so far. Of course, this is from the perception of a follow. All characters have been made up, so any similarity you might see with your own self is pure coincidence. Ok, that was a little white lie. But honestly, all of these are based on more than one person, (yes, even the teachers - I've had the pleasure of dancing with at least six by now!) so if you see yourself, know at least that you're not the only one! Conversely.. some leads might exhibit more than one character at once. Don't ask me later which one is you. If I'm still dashing to dance with you, you probably aren't any of the bad ones :) And follows... I'm sure you'll enjoy and agree! Let me know if I missed some characters.
Mr. Twistie: the lead who uses enough force to get you flying to the other coast of the pacific! This one will hurt you. He can’t lead, and compensates for that with sheer force. You will feel like you’ve just been taken in by fifty cops who are all trying to handcuff you in the back.
Mr. U-turn: As in YOU turn, and not him. This one thinks that his skill as a lead is measured by the amount of turns he can fit in one song. You’ll come out lightheaded at the least.
The Spinnster: even worse than Mr. U-turn. His only skill is turning you multiple times followed by a dip. By multiple I mean ten-fifteen times. That’s all he’ll do the entire song. Prep, spin, dip. Prep, spin, dip. If you can make it to the window after the dance without falling on your face, you’re good. Never dance with him again.
The Grandpa Who Can Barely Move: that’s pretty self-explanatory. He can barely walk, much less can he dance. For the first 20 seconds you will admire that Salsa is addicting enough for people to want to still go out at this age. You will soon start worrying that the grandpa will fall over if you make too large a step. Then you’ll just be bored. Barely moving grandpas are an excellent way to learn to keep your steps small though. As in microscopic.
The Older Creep: He wants to dance with you all the time. More than one song a night. He’s counting on you feeling bad to turn him down. But you can tell that his eyes are imagining what’s underneath your dress. The dance with this one will consist mostly of you trying to keep his hands as far away from your body as physically possible while still dancing Salsa. You will avoid all future eye contact.
The Younger Creep: His first question to you will be “are you single?” Next, he will proclaim that in a week he will be your boyfriend/husband/lover. This dancer will amaze you with his blatant audacity to stare at your chest. He will then stalk you and wonder why the heck you don’t want to dance with him again. He will claim that you were such good friends and then something happened. This is a good time to mention that he never bothered to ask your name. There’s a slight chance that at this point he’ll abandon all future references to your “good” friendship.
The Scary Teacher: He is the one who has some special style that’s impossible to follow, but you really, really want to, because you want him to think that you are good enough. It will take forever to adjust to him. Leave trying to dance with this one until you are at least in Salsa 4.
The Secret Teacher: He is the lead that you can’t get enough of. He mentions something about a totally different area of work that he does, and tries to never mention his true profession: teaching Salsa. Once you find out from somebody else, he blushes and acts all bashful. But trust me, on the inside he likes the praises, so bring out some more! This is the person whose tips you want to listen to.
Too Much of a Good Thing: This guy is good. At first you couldn’t wait to dance with him, but now… it just got old. Because he asked you every other song ever since he discovered that you go out dancing to the same place as him. He couldn’t keep the mystery.
The Mysterious Pro: He is part of a dance team and barely travels around the floor. He waits until the lady’s flock to him. Then he chooses. Or not. After all, he doesn’t have to be dancing every song. He’s too good for that. If you are a mere mortal, you will NOT get to dance with this guy.
The Mysterious Loner: He travels the side of the floor and once in a while you might even catch his eye. He might even smile at you and come up. Then he’ll stand nearby, but never ask you. You will wonder what the heck is going on and keep thinking about him for the entire duration of the night. He will be the one for whom you’ll break your promise to yourself to never ask a guy to dance. Then he’ll get you thinking that he’s just… shy. But maybe it’s just part of his game.
The Guy From Your Class: He’s not that good yet, but you know exactly what he’s trying to do, because he’s from your class! So somehow it works. This is the guy you’ll love dancing with just because you two can laugh at each others’ mistakes and still have a good time. Unless you are the snobby follow who thinks she’s too good for three fourths of the dance floor. Then it’s your loss honey. Because you’re missing out on the “social” part of social dancing!
The Know-It-All: He will constantly comment on how your feet are not moving the right way. That’s because in his head, the counting somehow missed the connection to the music. He moves at his own rhythm, and is very much possible to dance with, if you catch the rhythm and ignore the beat of what’s playing at the time. Since what’s playing is probably blasting, this will be hard. It will be even harder not to laugh in his face or want to make a sarcastic comment back at him when he says that you are not moving to the beat. But resist the urge. He has no clue that he’s not moving the right way. All your comment will do is create resentment, and possibly even badmouthing to other leads.
The Want-To-Learn: Be careful to distinguish between this guy and a know-it-all. The way you’ll know is probably because he won’t comment that you are moving the wrong way. He doesn’t really catch the rhythm either, but he knows about it and wants to learn! If you are gentle, he can very much be reminded that he needs to pause on three. And he needs to be reminded that, otherwise he won’t be a good lead! Ever. And he wants to!
The Beginner: You’ll know this one because he’s either 1. Too afraid to step out on the dance floor because he knows he sucks. 2. Is blissfully unaware that he sucks yet, and asks everyone to dance. This guy knows one turn. And if he’s stepping to the right beat he’s actually completely still possible to have fun with! Unless you are the aforementioned snobby follow who’s too good for three fourths of the dance floor. Give them a chance people and stop treating beginners like leprechauns! At one point you were a beginner as well.
The Hip-Hop Invasion: He thinks that Salsa is not really Salsa. And Quick-Quick-Slow, Quick-Quick-Slow, can be totally substituted with Slow-Slow-Slow-Slow. This is actually not a bad example of a lead, as many of you might think. They are a lot of fun and very inspiring, at least for me. But I can see how faithful Salseras might be offended by their shameless hip-hop invasion.
Mr. Lookin-Good: a.k.a. Mr. Selfish. His only goal in the dance is to look good. Not as a couple. Just him. He has style. He’ll do weird turns, weird hand movements and be overall smooth and fly. He doesn’t give jack if you can’t follow him or feel uncomfortable with his moves. He doesn’t care if you just stand there as well. All he cares about is looking good. He’s fun to dance with the first time, but then it just gets a little funny and ridiculous. After all, it takes two to Tango. Well it takes two to Salsa as well. This guy just forgot.
Mr. Puppet: He THINKS he’s fly. At least Mr. Lookin-Good really WAS. This guy is doing something with his body that reminds you either of pre-mortal convulsions or the devil doing his dance around you. He looks ridiculous. In fact, he looks so ridiculous that you are having a difficult time not laughing at him. He looks like a cross between a puppet on a string and a Billy goat. He might not be a bad lead, but he’s embarrassing to dance with, even for the follow who’s not too good for three fourths of the dance floor. If one of these got a hold of you, enjoy the show. Just try to pass your laughter for having a good time.
The Perfect Lead: Luckily, the characters above do not compile the majority of the dance floor. This character is based on WAY more than one, two or even five leads. He’s considerate. He’s smooth. He doesn’t make you feel stupid. He moves on time. He's feeling the music. He’s not pretentious and invokes no feelings of inferiority, suspense, embarrassment, or fear (for your safety or your ligaments’ health). He is himself. And you can be yourself with him. While dancing Salsa. That’s social dancing to me!
P.S.:
Mr. Extra Perfect: Unlike all the characters above, this one's only based on one real person. He's The Perfect Lead. And if he ever messes up, he gives you chocolate. You know who you are. :) :) :)
Mr. Twistie: the lead who uses enough force to get you flying to the other coast of the pacific! This one will hurt you. He can’t lead, and compensates for that with sheer force. You will feel like you’ve just been taken in by fifty cops who are all trying to handcuff you in the back.
Mr. U-turn: As in YOU turn, and not him. This one thinks that his skill as a lead is measured by the amount of turns he can fit in one song. You’ll come out lightheaded at the least.
The Spinnster: even worse than Mr. U-turn. His only skill is turning you multiple times followed by a dip. By multiple I mean ten-fifteen times. That’s all he’ll do the entire song. Prep, spin, dip. Prep, spin, dip. If you can make it to the window after the dance without falling on your face, you’re good. Never dance with him again.
The Grandpa Who Can Barely Move: that’s pretty self-explanatory. He can barely walk, much less can he dance. For the first 20 seconds you will admire that Salsa is addicting enough for people to want to still go out at this age. You will soon start worrying that the grandpa will fall over if you make too large a step. Then you’ll just be bored. Barely moving grandpas are an excellent way to learn to keep your steps small though. As in microscopic.
The Older Creep: He wants to dance with you all the time. More than one song a night. He’s counting on you feeling bad to turn him down. But you can tell that his eyes are imagining what’s underneath your dress. The dance with this one will consist mostly of you trying to keep his hands as far away from your body as physically possible while still dancing Salsa. You will avoid all future eye contact.
The Younger Creep: His first question to you will be “are you single?” Next, he will proclaim that in a week he will be your boyfriend/husband/lover. This dancer will amaze you with his blatant audacity to stare at your chest. He will then stalk you and wonder why the heck you don’t want to dance with him again. He will claim that you were such good friends and then something happened. This is a good time to mention that he never bothered to ask your name. There’s a slight chance that at this point he’ll abandon all future references to your “good” friendship.
The Scary Teacher: He is the one who has some special style that’s impossible to follow, but you really, really want to, because you want him to think that you are good enough. It will take forever to adjust to him. Leave trying to dance with this one until you are at least in Salsa 4.
The Secret Teacher: He is the lead that you can’t get enough of. He mentions something about a totally different area of work that he does, and tries to never mention his true profession: teaching Salsa. Once you find out from somebody else, he blushes and acts all bashful. But trust me, on the inside he likes the praises, so bring out some more! This is the person whose tips you want to listen to.
Too Much of a Good Thing: This guy is good. At first you couldn’t wait to dance with him, but now… it just got old. Because he asked you every other song ever since he discovered that you go out dancing to the same place as him. He couldn’t keep the mystery.
The Mysterious Pro: He is part of a dance team and barely travels around the floor. He waits until the lady’s flock to him. Then he chooses. Or not. After all, he doesn’t have to be dancing every song. He’s too good for that. If you are a mere mortal, you will NOT get to dance with this guy.
The Mysterious Loner: He travels the side of the floor and once in a while you might even catch his eye. He might even smile at you and come up. Then he’ll stand nearby, but never ask you. You will wonder what the heck is going on and keep thinking about him for the entire duration of the night. He will be the one for whom you’ll break your promise to yourself to never ask a guy to dance. Then he’ll get you thinking that he’s just… shy. But maybe it’s just part of his game.
The Guy From Your Class: He’s not that good yet, but you know exactly what he’s trying to do, because he’s from your class! So somehow it works. This is the guy you’ll love dancing with just because you two can laugh at each others’ mistakes and still have a good time. Unless you are the snobby follow who thinks she’s too good for three fourths of the dance floor. Then it’s your loss honey. Because you’re missing out on the “social” part of social dancing!
The Know-It-All: He will constantly comment on how your feet are not moving the right way. That’s because in his head, the counting somehow missed the connection to the music. He moves at his own rhythm, and is very much possible to dance with, if you catch the rhythm and ignore the beat of what’s playing at the time. Since what’s playing is probably blasting, this will be hard. It will be even harder not to laugh in his face or want to make a sarcastic comment back at him when he says that you are not moving to the beat. But resist the urge. He has no clue that he’s not moving the right way. All your comment will do is create resentment, and possibly even badmouthing to other leads.
The Want-To-Learn: Be careful to distinguish between this guy and a know-it-all. The way you’ll know is probably because he won’t comment that you are moving the wrong way. He doesn’t really catch the rhythm either, but he knows about it and wants to learn! If you are gentle, he can very much be reminded that he needs to pause on three. And he needs to be reminded that, otherwise he won’t be a good lead! Ever. And he wants to!
The Beginner: You’ll know this one because he’s either 1. Too afraid to step out on the dance floor because he knows he sucks. 2. Is blissfully unaware that he sucks yet, and asks everyone to dance. This guy knows one turn. And if he’s stepping to the right beat he’s actually completely still possible to have fun with! Unless you are the aforementioned snobby follow who’s too good for three fourths of the dance floor. Give them a chance people and stop treating beginners like leprechauns! At one point you were a beginner as well.
The Hip-Hop Invasion: He thinks that Salsa is not really Salsa. And Quick-Quick-Slow, Quick-Quick-Slow, can be totally substituted with Slow-Slow-Slow-Slow. This is actually not a bad example of a lead, as many of you might think. They are a lot of fun and very inspiring, at least for me. But I can see how faithful Salseras might be offended by their shameless hip-hop invasion.
Mr. Lookin-Good: a.k.a. Mr. Selfish. His only goal in the dance is to look good. Not as a couple. Just him. He has style. He’ll do weird turns, weird hand movements and be overall smooth and fly. He doesn’t give jack if you can’t follow him or feel uncomfortable with his moves. He doesn’t care if you just stand there as well. All he cares about is looking good. He’s fun to dance with the first time, but then it just gets a little funny and ridiculous. After all, it takes two to Tango. Well it takes two to Salsa as well. This guy just forgot.
Mr. Puppet: He THINKS he’s fly. At least Mr. Lookin-Good really WAS. This guy is doing something with his body that reminds you either of pre-mortal convulsions or the devil doing his dance around you. He looks ridiculous. In fact, he looks so ridiculous that you are having a difficult time not laughing at him. He looks like a cross between a puppet on a string and a Billy goat. He might not be a bad lead, but he’s embarrassing to dance with, even for the follow who’s not too good for three fourths of the dance floor. If one of these got a hold of you, enjoy the show. Just try to pass your laughter for having a good time.
The Perfect Lead: Luckily, the characters above do not compile the majority of the dance floor. This character is based on WAY more than one, two or even five leads. He’s considerate. He’s smooth. He doesn’t make you feel stupid. He moves on time. He's feeling the music. He’s not pretentious and invokes no feelings of inferiority, suspense, embarrassment, or fear (for your safety or your ligaments’ health). He is himself. And you can be yourself with him. While dancing Salsa. That’s social dancing to me!
P.S.:
Mr. Extra Perfect: Unlike all the characters above, this one's only based on one real person. He's The Perfect Lead. And if he ever messes up, he gives you chocolate. You know who you are. :) :) :)
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