• Welcome to Just Dancing Salsa ~ Cape Town!!
  • About
    • What’s on offer?
    • The Teachers
    • Where are we?
    • Weekly Socials
    • History
  • Courses
    • Course Schedule
    • Beginners Salsa Course
    • Improvers Salsa Course
    • Intermediate Salsa Course
    • Bachata
    • Kizomba
  • Photo Gallery
  • Blog
  • Contact

Just Dancing Salsa~ Cape Town

~ Feel. Play. Express.

Just Dancing Salsa~ Cape Town

Category Archives: Dancing Tips

What makes a good dancer?

04 Saturday Aug 2012

Posted by Lani Strumpfer in Dancing Tips, salsa, Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Barbosa Social Cafe, Cape Town, Dancing Tips, good dancers, Just Dancing Salsa, Pointers for Beginners, Salsa, salsa classes, Salsa Party, salsa practice, where to dance

Simply put… Stubbornness.

The best dancers are incredibly stubborn! When they know they can’t do something, they do it. Usually over and over again so that what they cannot do becomes what they can do. Often it irritates them so much that cannot do something that they determine to get  that something right usually before the next time they are going to dance.

Seldom do they get it right in a studio. Most often it is in the kitchen or in front of the tiny bedroom mirror, in the shower or randomly in the street. Or, and this is a common one, in the grocery queue. This is because the best dancers dance absolutely everywhere while life happens around them. They do not let it go! It’s stubbornness!

Every opportunity to dance is taken. It is not given up for the comfort of home or for an enticing fad. Whenever they can dance, they do. With whomever they can dance, they do. If they happen to hear the right music, they dance. If there is a dance party, they go and they dance. If there isn’t a dance party they throw one, and they dance.

Dance stubbornness perseveres. It doesn’t leave you be. It doesn’t stay for only a short time. Good dancers do not dance for a few months only, they stick to it for years. And their stubbornness sticks with them.

Be stubborn.

Dance!

Passing the Awkward Beginner Phase…

23 Monday Jul 2012

Posted by Lani Strumpfer in Dancing Tips, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Beginners, Cape Town, Dancing Tips, Just Dancing Salsa, Pointers for Beginners, Salsa

Starting salsa is for most people like a baby learning to take its first steps: it can be scary, you feel completely uncoordinated and people may laugh at you! But like learning to walk, being able to dance makes it well worth the effort!Image

So here are some tips for the new Salseras and Salseros

Tip 1: Count continuously!

Keep counting and don’t stop even when your feet get all muddled up! Counting keeps your rhythm and your timing going. Keeping on counting will make it easier for you to keep moving even when your body is lost. It will also help to build up your muscle memory.

Tip 2: Dance on tip toes!

Stay on the balls of your feet. Dancing on the balls of your feet will help lift your centre of gravity which makes your body feel lighter and makes it easier for you to move. This will mean you keep to the timing of the song and that you move with more ease.

Tip 3: Small steps!

How can you tell if someone is a beginner dancer? By the size of their steps! Keep your steps small, no bigger than your own shoe size. This will not only help your timing but will also help you to move more naturally, which is key to looking natural on the dance floor!

Tip 4:  Arms up!

Many people don’t know what to do with their arms and it makes them feel awkward. Keep your arms up as if you were running- no one runs with their hands dangling by their sides! Lifting your arms tells your mind and your body that it needs to be ready to move.

Tip 5: Repetition!

That hated concept: practice, practice, practice! Alas, the body was made for repetition! Without practice your body will have to relearn steps every week! But if you go through the steps a few times in the week the next class will be so much easier!

With these aspects in place the awkwardness of being a beginner will be whisked away and you will start feeling like a dancer!

See you on the dance floor!

Newer posts →

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

JustDancingSalsa

  • Beginners Bachata Shines! Starts easy, ends a challenge! #pushyourlevel New course starts Thursday 9 May!… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 3 years ago
  • Weekend feeling! #saturdaynightsalsa facebook.com/13761233968095… 3 years ago
  • Learn to Salsa! New Beginners course starts Tuesday 7th May! Book at carlos@sensagria.com! 💃😍🕺 facebook.com/13761233968095… 3 years ago
Follow @JustDancingSals

Recent Posts

  • Our semi-pro performance in 2014 at CTSF!
  • MASQUERADE SALSA PARTY 2015!
  • Kizomba Classes!
  • Mzanzi Cape Town Salsa Festival 2014!!!
  • Some Inspiration!!

Just Dancing Salsa

Just Dancing Salsa

This month’s posts!

  • December 2015
  • June 2015
  • February 2015
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • February 2014
  • November 2013
  • August 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012

Top Posts & Pages

  • Contact
  • Welcome to Just Dancing Salsa ~ Cape Town!!

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Contact

carlos@justdancingsalsa.com
072 742 2190

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Just Dancing Salsa~ Cape Town
    • Join 61 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Just Dancing Salsa~ Cape Town
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...