Culture clash: Non-dancers in a salsa club...

Male non-dancers sitting at the bar, drinking, checking out and trying to pick up girls is an old salsa club phenomena. They can be a nuisance to female dancers but they are great for the club since they buy drinks...

Recently, I’ve started to observe a new pattern of behavior from female “non-salseras” and it becomes more and more pronounced in my salsa scene: groups of women would stand in a circle on a dance floor and do “whatever” during salsa songs.
Well, I guess it’s not new - there always were some girls dancing by themselves in the corner or on the outskirts of the dancefloor but now they occupy a SIZABLE CHUNK of dancefloor leaving even less space for salseros to dance at a crowded nightclub.

Does it happen only in my neck of the woods? Is it common? Is it a developing conspiracy? :shock: :shock: :shock:
How to deal with it?

My take on it is that on one hand these girls pay the same cover fee and buy drinks and, therefore, have a full right to have fun in whichever way they want, but on the other hand the way they dance- oblivious to the surroundings - is DANGEROUS TO THEM AND TO THE NEARBY DANCERS, to me it looks like accidents just asking to happen..

What are your thoughts/ experiences ?

Would you say this group/solo dancing takes up more or less space per person than couple's salsa?

If it's a more efficient use of space (more dollars per square foot) that may say bad things for partner dance venues.

I know what you mean Vey, about not a care to their surroundings. Some of these have come on drunk, drinks sloshing about etc. Horrible.

To me, this usually signifies that the club is no longer a top choice for salseros.

Usually, when the salseros take the floor, most non-salseros stay to the side watching in awe and are usually intimidated by the dancing. They dont want to "dance" next to these "awesome" dancers.

But if there is less and less salseros dancing, then those on the side feel less intimidated and start crowding the dance floor.

Out of curiosity, is this the Rumba club your talkin about?

Chris Stratton said:

Would you say this group/solo dancing takes up more or less space per person than couple's salsa?

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Oh absolutely! At least 3 experienced couples can be comfortably dancing in a space ocuupied by 2-3 girls :cry:

Sagitta said:

I know what you mean Vey, about not a care to their surroundings. Some of these have come on drunk, drinks sloshing about etc. Horrible.

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Exactly, Sagitta, that's why I called it a "culture clash". We're so used to it we don't realise that salsa clubs have cetain unwritten code of behaviour some of which is just consideration and common sense while other rules can be not evident for a nondancer....

aragonh said:

Out of curiosity, is this the Rumba club your talkin about?

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Hi aragonh, Rumba is no longer a good hang out for salseros on Fri/Sat,

that's exactly what happend - it was taken over by non-dancers...

But I'm talking about other places as well....

You know the answer to this don't you?

Get up there and do some amazing dancing so they stand back in awe!



I must say I haven't noticed it, but the salsa nights here in Cardiff are very much salsa nights. At one venue you do get men and women coming into the bar to drink but they mostly stay off the dancefloor from what I've seen. More of a menace are awful salsa dancers who haven't cracked the simple (to me) concept of "crowded dancefloor, so dance small."

vey said:

Recently, I’ve started to observe a new pattern of behavior from female “non-salseras” and it becomes more and more pronounced in my salsa scene: groups of women would stand in a circle on a dance floor and do “whatever” during salsa songs.


Does it happen only in my neck of the woods? Is it common? Is it a developing conspiracy? :shock: :shock: :shock:
How to deal with it?

What are your thoughts/ experiences ?

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i see this a lot in hip hop clubs, and perhaps its the influence of that in the salsa clubs as well. the club i was in this past weekend was like that - live band, but later on, the dj took over, and he played salsa, then reggaeton, hiphop, bachata, everything.. i thought it was fun.

personally, i don't mind seeing a large group of girls dancing 'whatever' - usually, i'll find a few guys who are hanging around, and we go up and ask them all to dance - especially if its a merengue, which doesn't require too much fancy footwork. sometimes girls do that group dancing stuff if a few of their friends are not being asked at all; that way they get to have some fun, and dance a little.

anytime there's a lot of women, i see it as a positive. even if they are not there to dance seriously. better than large groups of, say, .. guys,

vey said:

But I'm talking about other places as well....

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That sucks. The only consistent place I know in Chicago is the PT every other Sunday

Freestyle dancers have been a hazard to partner dancers in blues and country clubs for ages (also line dancers in the country venues, and they're worse in some ways). I'm surprised you haven't had them in the salsa clubs already.

Anyway, they paid the cover fee too, and unless management wants to control what type of dancing happens on the floor, you're stuck with them.

AHEM. Excuse me. Freestyle dancers per se are not a problem. Inconsiderate people who also happen to be freestyling are a problem.

Has it occurred to you that maybe these people either don't know how to go about learning to salsa, or don't feel confident enough to do it with other people? I'll bet for some of them that's the case, and I'd never want to be down on anyone who wants to feel the music and move as long as they are not causing problems for others -- banging into them or whatever.

Please don't let this slide into dance snobbery.

PS I love freestyling -- although I go to dance, indie or R&B clubs to do it.

aragonh said:

To me, this usually signifies that the club is no longer a top choice for salseros.

Usually, when the salseros take the floor, most non-salseros stay to the side watching in awe and are usually intimidated by the dancing. They dont want to "dance" next to these "awesome" dancers.

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Aragonh has two good points above. At the latin dance parties I host, we welcome beginners and there is always a group of people out there freestyling it! I usually start this group, to get everyone out on the dance floor and loosened up, getting into the latin music, before the lesson starts. (We offer close to an hour of beginner lessons at every party). After the lesson, some people pair up and try to dance together but do you all remember your absolute first time dancing salsa? Did you get it in an hour? I certainly didn't, and it was nice to have friends around me to dance with that first time, and we had a great time anyhow, dancing solo, just moving to the music.

Ms_Sunlight said:

Please don't let this slide into dance snobbery.

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Mixing freestyle dancers and partner dancers on the same floor is a recipe for accidents, because they don't share the same rules of engagement. I don't know how you derive "snobbery" from what I posted.

aragonh said:

vey said:

But I'm talking about other places as well....

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That sucks. The only consistent place I know in Chicago is the PT every other Sunday

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I've been there only once before it really picked up.
I'd say that Green Dolphin (Tues) & Buzz (Wed ) are very consistent so far.