Hot tips for new salseros (or how to avoid car crash salsa!)

It's been a fairly busy, if wet, summer so I've posted few blog articles for awhile - but now the time has come...

Here's a topic everyone can contribute to... I'm looking forward to lots of comments on this one...

I've had a few people talk to me recently about learning salsa and the challenge for the leaders of building a repetoire of moves. Comments have ranged from 'I do a class, an hour later I've forgotten the taught pattern' and 'I can dance some moves ok in a practice session but as soon as I'm at a regular dance night my brain empties'. From relatively new followers I've heard comments like 'the new leaders aren't that good - I get much better dances from the experienced dancers'.

Ok, the first thing to say is that we've all experienced these problems whilst we've been learning - I remember asking Joe (of Salsa Corazon, my first salsa teacher) when I should expect taught patterns to stick in my head - he just smiled and said it would happen in time...

It did happen in time but looking back I can see how I might have accelerated my own learning process.

So the following notes are from my own experience - I welcome comments on any of these, but even more, I welcome your own suggestions and experiences - these will help the newest members of our thriving salsa community to get there faster!

So, in no particular order...

1) When to give up a class level

You're doing the Beginner level classes - you feel you should be moving on, you take a deep breath and move to the next level of class. Kinda wrong... move up by all means but keep attending the previous class as well - if you're only just at the stage when you think you're ready to move on then I guarantee you still have stuff to learn from the previous level - do them both for awhile. Only when you are completely comfortable with everything taught at the previous level should you consider giving it up.

Even then, after a period of time, maybe 6-8 weeks down the line, go back and do a class at the previous level - you may find that your recent experience has made it possible to learn even more from the earlier level.

I would take this a step further - let's suppose your teacher has the level sequence Beginner - Technique - Improver - Intermediate - I would suggest that you should keep attending the previous level classes until you can coast the latest level. So if you're now doing Improver classes keep attending Technique until the Improver level holds few challenges and so on...

2) Remembering patterns

Teachers don't like you getting hung up on patterns. If a teacher could teach technique most the time he/she would be a happy bunny - if only because it means he/she hasn't got to come up with an original pattern every week for the rest of his/her teaching career! Added to which - the teacher comes up with that original new move every week but rarely sees them danced at a dancenight!

Two reasons for this - a lot of people do classes for the sake of doing the class - not to add to their repetoire. You could teach brass rubbing if it was done to a salsa beat and these people would be happy. Which is fine - no reason to knock this if the folks are enjoying their night out at a salsa class.

The other reason is the more obvious one - the leaders can't remember the pattern!

Let's focus on this second reason. What stops the leaders remembering the pattern? The move may be too hard - ok, so don't beat yourself up about it - other weeks they'll be easier, in time you'll cope with them all. The move may be too long - by the time you remember the end of the move you can't remember the beginning. There are plenty more reasons as well.

Here's my top tip for remembering the pattern as it's been taught: memorise the entry point. Simple as that. If I find I can't lead a taught pattern it's usually because I can't remember how we got into the move in the first place. I now make a deliberate attempt to fix the initial set-up in my head. It sounds obvious but how often do you hear yourself saying 'how did that damn move start?'. Take this one step further - at some stage in the move will come another bit that is slightly unusual - a hand-change, a different kind of lead, a turn in an unusual direction - now get a fix on that element as well.

These two fixes are probably all you need to hold onto the pattern so it's clear enough in your mind to practice - but see also the next tip!

3) Practice on the floor, practice in bed

I'm a strong believer in practising in bed - it's an under-rated exercise, in my opinion (waits for lewd laughter to die down)... what I mean is this - visualise the move before you drop off to sleep - dance it through in your minds eye - you'll find those tricky fixes (see above) may allude you but your virtual partner won't mind whilst you stop and remember - try dancing through the pattern in this way at least a couple of times (after two think-throughs I'm normally asleep - beats counting sheep). Visualising the move in this way helps to fix it in your memory and is almsot as good as non-virtual practice.

Practice on the floor is the real thing. If you do a class and don't practice the move in the freedance session afterwards then, really, you can't expect to hold onto it. But don't just practice the move itself - dance your other stuff and then fit in the new pattern. This is important for the followers as well - they will be able to eliminate anticipation - and the leader will discover what is really involved in leading the move when the follower doesn't know it's coming.

(You can try non-virtual practice in bed as well but this usually involves stuff I can't go into here... see me after the next class...)

4) Adjust the pattern

We're not all the same. So what I teach in a class won't work as well for someone else as it works for me. I try to teach a good range of moves but I gravitate toward what is comfortable for me - I'm not that small and I'm quite tall - so there are some salsa moves that are simply wrong for me. If you're not as tall or wide as me then you may find some of my moves work less well for you. That's cool - but get a feel for what fits you best and don't be afraid to adapt a pattern to suit your style and bodyshape.

I was at a class last night - a really nice Intermediate/Advanced sequence - I got the whole thing and was dancing it afterwards - I've done the memorising noted above and the visualisation exercise so the move is neatly packed away in the repetoire. But the entry to the move involved a followers double clockwise turn with the leader turning anti-clockwise on the second half of the followers turn (you had to be there...). Anyway, out of this manouvre came a neat little cartwheel move for both partners which involved a clockwise turn for the leader. Now, being a big bloke who has for years struggled to avoid dizziness when doing double turns (I've almost got them nailed now!) that fast left followed by a big right turn messed with my brain - plus, the response time for the follower coming out of the double turn has to be nice and sharp - and many followers will struggle with it - so I revised the move by eliminating that first double turn for the follower/single turn for the lead - there was still sufficiently tricky stuff to make for a nice pattern so I came away with a good understanding of what was being taught plus a revised version of it that I will be able to dance with most partners. Win win, as they say. So be prepared to make adjustments to suit your style.

5) Forgetting stuff over time

Few dancers remember every move they've been taught. Everyone needs to remember the core technique for whatever level they are dancing but who is going to remember every pattern - it won't happen. Some of my favourite moves are now forgotten. It's frustrating but it happens. Why does it happen? It's mainly because, over a few dancenights I didn't lead those moves so my brain decided they were redundant.

You don't need to remember everything - just try to hold onto enough to keep yourself interested in your own dancing (this is a leader thing - we only have the same set of moves every time we dance - so we can get bored - followers dance new stuff all the time because they dance with different partners who know different things. Fact - leaders who dance with the same follower all the time are more likely to get bored with the dancing - dancing with different partners brings new challenges each time, even if the leader uses the same old repetoire).

6) Note-taking and videos

Writing notes after class may work as a short-term aide-memoire - the notes usually mean nothing after a couple of days! I find that fixing on the entry steps is enough so note-taking is less useful but it may work for you. Followers - don't bother - you really don't need to learn this stuff - your job is responding in the moment to what is being led - you need to recognise the set-up so you have a sense of what is required on the follow-through - a good lead will guide you through.

As aide-memoires, videos are useful, especially when you do a series of classes over, say, a weekend course, when there is not enough time to remember everything (written notes are also useful in these situations). If the teacher won't allow you to film him/her then get someone from the class to video you dancing the move - you don't have to do it brilliantly - it's just for reference.

For me, videos are quite useful but I don't tend to use the video camera except at weekenders - the memorising techniques noted above work best for me.

7) Practice

The more practice you do the more moves you'll remember. But also attend dancenights - it's all dance miles and you'll remember more the more miles you do.

8) Followers and beginners

Followers move on faster than leaders. It's a memory thing - the leaders have to remember what to do - and they have to remember the full 8-count. Followers are not required to remember a repetoire and they've usually got the the 1-2-3-4 to identify what the leader broadly intends to do - during that time they're just dancing basic.

So quite quickly the followers can dance with better leaders.

A word of warning for followers... a good leader can make you feel like a better dancer than you really are - so working with more basic moves with newer leaders can actually help your own dancing and you will help those leaders whilst they are on their way up. One day they will be the better dancers and you'll be glad you worked patiently with them - you'll be rewarded with a great dance relationship. Ignore your fellow beginners at your peril - if they know you're not giving them the time of day how keen do you think they'll be to ask you to dance once they can do it well?

Also - yes, you'll get good dances with the best dancers - but bear in mind that they probably won't get their best dances with you! So use them sparingly - get one dance with a good dancer but don't keep coming back for more - dance with people from the classes you are attending (and from the class level below as well) - you may find those dances more difficult but you will be a better dancer for it.

9) Patterning

Leaders and Followers - avoid car-crash salsa! Watching bad dancing is a fascination all of its own - you watch as some guy flings a hapless girl into terrible turns and dips, you thrill to the sight of followers falling off their heels and leaders dancing like their knees haven't learned how to bend - it's awful stuff but it's entertaining as well - like watching Big Brother - very hard to tear your eyes away...

...but you need to do just that. Our brains assimilate more than we realise. Watching bad technique will cause you to pattern on that bad technique. If I find myself watching car-crash salsa I usually dance badly the next time I'm on the floor.

The converse is true - if I watch good salsa I am positively affected by it - if I watch brilliant salsa I can feel it influencing my next dance.

We learn a lot by watching - particularly in relation to technique, timing and posture - so when there's a car crash look away - seek out the pro-drivers!

Enough for now - anyone got more to add?

Ian