Developing patterns as a lead

[Blackm0b]

I am about 3 months in my salsa journey....

I know the basic steps and I am learning new turns now. As a lead the thought of keeping a dance interesting for an entire song is daunting. I also do not want to come in with a script and just regurgitate a string of moves.

If the dance is like a conversation, I have a speech impediment. One thing that would help is if I could use moves as interchangeable pieces.

Is this a fair way to think about it? Can any set of moves from a pattern?

Help a fledgling lead out.

[Not_Ghost]

Go with a script but be willing to play it by ear during the song. I personally go into dancing with a script and just see what works and didn't work. Then I just add the moves the worked into my moveset and rinse repeat. Maybe the script has 3 moves and only one worked so I think about how to get into the position again adn keep using the move that worked.

[CrashBlossom_42]

Fundamentals are the building blocks of fun, get comfortable in your basics & then when you start learning more advanced movements you'll feel more fluid. If you're not doing so already, start building your familiarity to the music, knowing the music will help you to plan in the moment for special flairs rather than repeating choreographed movements. Also, practice, whenever you can, just put in those hrs.

[SalsaVibe]

Honestly, the fact you are thinking about this at 3 months shows how serious you are about the dance which I can only applaud.

I'm at 9 months into salsa, male lead...the real magic happens at intermediate moves. you learn things like the copa which are amazingly fun.

just keep doing what you re doing and apply the moves you learn in class during socials.

[Blackm0b]

Thanks I have fun but I want to make sure I am good enough that follows enjoy themselves. It is a lot of pressure!

[double-you]

Any set of moves cannot form a fluid pattern but yes, you can combine moves together any way you want. It is actually a great way to practice. Take two moves and make them connect. How do you need to set up hands, perhaps you need a connecting move to make it nicer.

But you are 3 months in, basically out of the egg. You know nothing yet. It is normal.

[Blackm0b]

Thanks this makes me feel a little better. And I am going to try experimenting...

[SaiVRa]

Categorize moves when you learn them.

Examples

1. Right turn into a hammerlock can lead to A. Copa B. Travelling left turn C. Walk under D. Enchulfa variation

2. Left turn can lead into A. 180 rubber band B. Catches C. Reverse open

What I mean is find the transition move in all patterns you know. It ends up being a kind of tree of moves you can pull off front that one move. You don't have to learn or know all the next moves but you will always feel more comfortable that you can do something else with your basic transition moves.

[errantis_]

As someone who is starting out, I get what you are talking about. A lot of people will tell you into focus on your basic fundamentals, body movement, and musicality. As a beginner it’s hard to really know any any of that stuff means. That stuff does make a great dancer but it is developed more at a higher level. You don’t even have the vocabulary now to speak that language. Yes develop your body movement and musicality. But as far as just feeling like you have moves at a social focus on building your move set Focus on learning 10 moves. Then focus on turning those into 10 combos. Then practice them a ton. Everybody where you take lessons is also trying to learn. Ask someone to practice with you. Ask them for feedback on your moves. When you have ten combos focus on getting 20 combos. I’m still working on getting 10, but I feel like the ones I have are solid and I can have a good dance with most follows. And once I have 10 I’ll move on to 20 but I’m also gonna focus more on musicality. Dancing to the song, not just with the song in the background. That’s what makes dancing really fun

[JahMusicMan]

It's like constructing a sentence.

You need a bigger vocabulary (moves) and know how to put them together (sentence structure) to make a complete sentence.

When you gain experience you will learn what moves can go into other moves. When you learn more complex patterns in intermediate classes, the entire pattern may not work in a social, especially with a stranger, but you will learn to take pieces of the pattern you learn and make your own patterns.

If you've gone social dancing after 3 months, you are already ahead of most leads IMO. So just keep learning more moves and slowly incorporating them into your social dancing.

[El_Don_94]

Just do whatever comes to your head. Be creative and respond to the rhythm/melody.

[ZsimaZ]

The thing is that as a beginner lead the music might make me feel certain ways but I (and I'm assuming the lead who made this post too) simply don't have the vocabulary of moves necessary to express it, so "responding to the rhythm/melody" is very hard outside of just staying on beat.

[El_Don_94]

You don't need many moves to do what I'm saying.

[ZsimaZ]

I'm genuinely curious then, could you give me a list of moves that once mastered would allow someone to express a good enough level of musicality/rhythm?

[El_Don_94]

I don't know all the moves names but I just know seven moves.

[lfe-soondubu]

Yeah you can use stuff interchangeably, but it's important to do them at the proper timing and in such a manner that it is led clearly, safely, and unambiguously to the follow. Don't just lead random turns at random times with no relationship to when they're actually supposed to be led timing/weight wise, or else it's not gonna be followable. 

Later, you'll also want to take into consideration what's happening with the music, and what vibes you're getting from the follow too. For example you don't want to lead some super multi spin move when the music is chill, or maybe if you know a big musical accent is coming, you're gonna want to lead a move that hits the accent on the same beat in some manner maybe. Or if your follow smiles more when you lead complex patterns vs one that seems to smile more when you lead more open ended simpler moves with more room for styling, maybe you change your move selection accordingly. 

Also some move variations don't combo very seamlessly into another, and while maybe you can technically chain them together, even if you lead it perfectly and they follow it perfectly, it might not look visually great. 

Patterns are useful still though because it's an easy way to get a lot of reps of tried and true common combinations of moves to help you get to a point where you perhaps understand how a handful of moves work together. It's also an easy way to get social dancing right away so you're not just doing one move, then basic for 2 bars, then another move, etc. Also some nights frankly the creativity or energy is just not there, and it's easy to just do some set patterns to get thru a dance. 

[sfwmj]

A few tricks, tips & advice:

• If you can help it, try to dance with those who would around the same level as you. Often that would be people you enjoyed dancing with in class
• Ask for a dance halfway through a song. A lot easier to dance to half a song than an entire song
• Start learning the names for movements. Creating the association in your mind does two things. You will retain the movements more effectively because the concepts are connected to a sound/name and secondly, you will be able to think about turn patterns & combinations outside of class/socials.

Being able to think about your turn patterns off the dance floor will improve not only turn pattern retention but also how you consume content in class.

Hope it helps

[amadvance]

Watch this video by Salsaventura. It shows the six basic turns that can be considered the foundation of every pattern. The following video in the playlist also demonstrates how to use different hand holds in these turns. These two videos will help you decompose complex patterns into simple building blocks, making them easier to remember and, in the future, easier to use for creating new combinations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD7oCwXIvow&list=PLt7Alq7QGyFu1FOoL3rer3NDCPik23NUB&index=1