“You have to speak Spanish in order to dance salsa?"

                Does knowing Spanish really help anyone dance Salsa? When I first signed up for salsa lessons, I thought I was at an advantage because I speak Spanish.  It was like the next step for me; first speak it, then dance it.  However, after the first class I realized there was flaw in my thinking.  In fact, what was I thinking?  I realized that salsa was its own language with its own base set of rules.        

     The base for salsa is the basic step.  This is the central axis which all dance moves manipulate around.  If you don’t know how it goes, it is just like walking; right, left, right, left.   Just like any language, if you know the basics then you can have a conversation with someone and say what is necessary.   But as your knowledge of that language grows, you can begin to articulate your ideas more efficiently and begin to really communicate with someone.

                In order to have a successful and meaningful conversation there must be a mutual respect for one another.  Respect includes not talking out of turn and fallowing the flow.  In salsa, the leader of the conversation is the guy.  He leads by letting the girl know what he is going to do by his hands and body movements.  With just the flick of the wrist he can tell her to spin to the right.  Or maybe he will tell her that he wants a “cross body lead” by gently guiding her waist towards himself while he steps to the right as well.  It is very important for the girl to listen and respond to his cues.  Especially since every guy has different “inflection” in his leading strategy. 

Some guys are more outspoken and an element of that comes through the manner in which they lead.  There are some leaders that are soft spoken and so their movements will be a bit more subtle as well.  Either way, it is possible for any girl to listen effectively and carry on a conversation.

The knowledge of any language can help someone to learn salsa.  The most important thing is to learn the basics like the back of your hand and then you can really grow from there.  I am sure that we all have a greater love and appreciation for our new cool language and I hope we all use it so we don’t lose it.

Kindra Cardenas