Trying too hard

I was out at some local salsa clubs this past weekend and I noticed a couple of different people “trying too hard” at the expense of actual dancing. Here’s what I saw from a number of people…

Guys…so busy showing off or “styling” (an unmitigated misnomer if you ask me) that they weren’t even looking at their partners, or dancing super fast/syncopated patterns not in sync with the tempo of the music; dancing beyond what they can lead smoothly, tugging & yanking on their partners to force “fancy” patterns.

Gals…so busy trying to style/look sexy/add sabor that they are missing leads.

Given that salsa is a social dance, shouldn’t leading/following be the priority and come first, with all the other stuff only being added on to whatever measure it does not interfere with leading/following?

There is no such thing

Hello sdsalsaguy. I understand what you are saying, but really what is trying to hard? Becuase soomeone trys a move that is not perfected yet so their lead looks a little sloppy? So what, that is what social dancing is all about...practicing. Some people are more then happy to just be able to stay a beat and lead a few moves, but there are those who want to take thier danceing to a more advanced level and there is nothing wrong with that either. No, people should not be doing tricks and flips while social dancing.(flips should not be part of dancing at all). Some spend 2/3 of the song doing footwork and 1/3 partnering, but that is their style. While some spend the entire song doing move after move after move. There is not anything wrong with that either. People are different and will of course enjoy different aspects of salsa. We all LOVE dancing and that is what it is all about.
My heart beats clave!!

Hey Monstruo, thanks for the comment...especially from someone who's heart beats clave; always a welcome addition! I think you're absolutely right about trying and improving. What I meant was not that there was a problem with such lapses but, rather, when the priority had been shifted away from leading/following.

If your style is footwork based, go for it! I just don't get it when more of the footwork is done not facing your partner then facing your partner! Shine routines can be fantastic, but on a social dance floor, isn't the whole point of partner dancing to dance with a partner?

SDsalsaguy said:

....Given that salsa is a social dance, shouldn’t leading/following be the priority and come first, with all the other stuff only being added on to whatever measure it does not interfere with leading/following?

Click to expand...

SD, I'm wondering if this is a problem (sometimes, depending on where you live) that starts when the student first enters a dance school? I've been to a few schools and in my experience, not once did I hear anything about the "essentials" of the salsa. Immediately, you are thrown into patterns and turns or not even the musicality aspect of it. I'm wondering students are more prone to focus on tricks as opposed to dancing because of the initial influence of the instructor/dance class? Any others?

SDsalsaguy said:

Given that salsa is a social dance, shouldn’t leading/following be the priority and come first, with all the other stuff only being added on to whatever measure it does not interfere with leading/following?

Click to expand...

I agree.

A significant amount of dancers enjoy being the center of attention and therefore, (with the ones you mention) flash is what appeals to them. And thus, they don't pay attention to the dance connection.

This applies to both men and women.

I think experimenting is part of any dance...the only way we can improve and master our techniques is by trying them out on the social dance floor. That being said, there has to be a point of balance to this. Depending on the lady, I may try one move I don't know very well during the dance...and see how it goes, but I never use the lady as a practice dummy...I'm there to dance WITH her...and if that just means doing the basic and a few simple turns, then that's all I'll do.

I've observed several other newer Salseros at the places I frequent and most of them are doing lots of fancy moves that I don't do...but they have no sense of timing, their techniques are poorly executed and in my opinion, they really need to work on their basics. I'm the exact opposite, my basics and timing are pretty good (and still have much room for improvement), but I don't have a huge array of fancy moves.

It all depends on the connection with your partner, the music, the energy of the club. One of my best dances ever was with a young lady who told me she wanted to work on her spins...so I threw in everything including the kitchen sink into our dance...and perhaps we didn't look all that great, but man was it a lot of fun and we were both having a great time. On one hand it showed me where I needed to improve my lead on faster techniques, but it also gave me some confidence to let my wild side out a bit more.

I always pay close attention to my partner, and if she isn't comfortable with a move for whatever reason, then I don't do it. These days I'm really working on making better eye contact and having a good connection with my partner...I'm not much for shines or solos, and I really enjoy the partner aspect of partner dancing.

SG

Peach, I agree with you on the fact that classes often focus on turn patterns, tricks and footwork when everyone should really be focusing on how they feel during the song. The best practice any instructor ever gave me was to just play a song and freestyle the whole thing. I think it's then and only then when you're able to step out of the structure of patterns and develop your own personal style.

I must confess that I do end up missing a few leads because I am enjoying the music so much (for example: dropping on 1 when he is trying to do a snap), but I don't think that it's terribly wrong...although completely ignoring your partner and dancing solo is. I miss the lead, I laugh about it, he laughs about it, and we carry on. It adds a little more fun. A mistake here and there ends up relaxing me and reminds me that we are social dancing for personal enjoyment and not training to be the world champions of salsa.

That is why I spend so much time on timing and its paying off, Im hearing and dancing to the beat now pretty good now.
Having fun with what combinations I know " not many" but enough for now and I dont drink when I dance either, but love the ladies my gosh!

Wow, SD, you're so right! I always see people dancing to impress, doing shines and fancy moves they don't even master very well, just to make the audience watch them! It happens to me to interfere with leading at times (i.e. do some fancy stuff and be late on what he intended me to do) but I try to focus on partner dancing more... sometimes at the expense of footwork!

A few observations on this subject. As a newcomer to Salsa ( about 3 months) I finally braved a salsa club, ones eyes were immediately drawn to what can only be described as the flash dancers and , while initially very impressive and athletic I as a beginner was absoloutely mystified. The dancing seemed to bare no resemblance at all to what I was doing in class although im sure it was. My evening was saved when I saw a couple dancing quitely together the connection between them was electric and lo and behold 50 to 60 % of the moves they were doing I had done in class or were at least recognisable as variations of them.

So in short the athletic salsa is fine but getting that connection even if your moves are straightforward seems to be the object of the dance ( well at least for me).

first i'd like to point out that i luv difference in peoples style and dance, looks..etc.. but i agree with SD in that whatever it is thats done its really not worth much if connection is not palpable and felt..

they will eventually get passed that stage.. I think/hope.. as they 'age' and get more experience and mature in their soul and feeling it will all come down to connection.. again, its just a matter of time .. but generally this will happen to most.. just takes some a bit more time depending on their talent, experience and circumstances.. and its nice to watch them come around

Sabor, you just dotted the I's and crossed the T's 8)

LOL... yeah, even if he didn't capitalize them! :lol:

THAT IS SO CORRECT!

SEE, I DID CAPITALIZE THEM!

Only the Is and Ts silly! :wink: