Have you ever taken class and left thinking:
“I’m going to forget all of that in the next 10 minutes?”
What? Just me? 😉
Some of the ways that people have reinforced material is pretty obvious such as taking private lessons, more dance classes or finding practice partners. While I recommend all of the above as valid methods, I’d like to focus on the latter approach and offer a few nuggets of advice to those looking to spend time with someone to work on their dancing.
The first thing is that the intention should be made very clear about the fact that this is a BUSINESS meeting. I can’t tell you how often I’ve seen guys use ‘practice time’ as ‘trying to hook up’ time. To be fair, I’ve also seen some stand up guys using the time to sincerely work on their skills and for that I give three cheers. Women, I’d also offer the same advice but somehow when woman tries to advance on a guy during a practice session, it seems they usually get what they want…hmmmmmmmmmm.
I digress. Another thing I’d like to have people consider is the fact that in these mutual practice sessions, they work best when there are two people of similar level helping each other out vs one person teaching (who has no idea how to do so) the other. Stay in the vibration of helping and discovering things together as opposed to taking the opportunity to impose your own personal ideas of how things should feel.
To make these sessions most productive, I’d also add that there should be a goal for each person in mind. Guys, this is not ‘mangle her arms to figure out this cool move’ time. Ask for feedback as the input from the follow side of the pattern is usually invaluable. Ladies, in an effort to be polite and accommodating, I’ve seen you all just let the guys work on his things without benefiting yourself in some way. I’d offer that you should work on your own specific things and allocate some time where both people focus on the follow part.
To summarize and highlight that last bit of advice, split the meeting time in half and be respectful of each others time. We all have smartphones nowadays and it’s totally acceptable to set your stopwatch to ring at halfway so you can both shift focus.
Salsa dancing is such a deep and challenging art that leads to much discovery. Both people should work on their personal goals and openly assist the other person to achieve theirs. Communicate with one another and make these sessions both fun and productive!
Have you had some Salsa dancing woes trying to practice with someone?
Have you had success?
Let me know by commenting and sharing…
To your dancing!