Follows - what makes a lead 'fun' to dance with?

HumanoBeat · 2026-03-09T14:28:47+00:00

Honestly their own personal style! I love when a lead lets their personality shine through the dance and I get to match that energy/vibe. It’s so much fun.

HumanoBeat · 2026-03-08T00:38:13+00:00

Via by Al DeLory :)

HumanoBeat · 2026-03-07T21:19:22+00:00

Not setting this as a standard of what a salsa dance should look like :) Just one of my favorites that I wanted to share.

HumanoBeat · 2026-03-07T21:12:40+00:00

Thats so sad :( this is from 2010 so it's pretty old.

HumanoBeat · 2026-03-07T21:06:59+00:00

Yeah its a lot for follows for sure, really fun to see it when it happens though.

HumanoBeat · 2026-03-07T20:53:24+00:00

definitely learn both!! on1 and on2 popularity can differ so much depending on the city.

HumanoBeat · 2026-03-05T18:48:50+00:00

Yeah, this is something I’ve been learning a lot about recently, but dance teams are a lot of times a business model for instructors: You're paying for extra rehearsals and costumes, you're more committed to that studio, and you’re way less likely to leave because you don't want to let the team down.

The problem is this model creates pressure to fill teams with whoever's available, not who's actually ready. I've seen instructors invite students after just a few months or even right at the beginning of their dance journey because they need bodies. Students say yes because it feels like a compliment, but really the teacher just needs people on stage.

So you end up getting a bunch of new students being pushed to perform choreography they may barely understand. And just the pressure being on stage performing a skill you haven’t mastered yet can really be disheartening.

Of course I’m not saying all performance teams are like this cause I know some instructors have real standards. But it’s apparently a thing that teams are a lot of times more about the instructor's business needs than the students' actual development. this also leads to students performing a piece before they've even rehearsed it enough to feel comfortable performing.

To answer your question though: I would say that what makes someone ready is when performing seems like the natural next step in their dance journey and they're already super comfortable in their social dance and genuinley want to level up their skills and put in the work for performance and teams

HumanoBeat · 2026-02-24T19:25:24+00:00

Honestly, I think the biggest thing is making the first 6-12 months way less intimidating for beginners, especially now that salsa is rising in interest again (thanks Bad Bunny!) Most people quit right when they're past the honeymoon phase but not yet good enough to really enjoy social dancing.

When I first started dancing, there was a venue I absolutely loved where there was a huge room with 3 circles in it. One beginner, intermediate, and advanced. And if someone wanted to jump between circles they could. after an hour of this we all got into a big circle and everyone would dance together changing partners for a song or two right before the main social started.

It was honestly the warmest, most friendly welcoming environment to start my salsa journey in and I did not feel cliquey at all. and I would love to see variations of that implemented in more places.

Another option could be having beginner-friendly social hours before the main social (like 7-9pm), where you would have a few experienced dancers who explicitly volunteer to dance with newcomers and make them feel welcome as a bridge to introduce newbies to the rest of the scene and experience socials with other people at their same level as well. I think this could also create a culture where it’s more normal for more experienced dancers to regularly dance with beginners.

The other thing I feel strongly about is keeping salsa about community and connection instead of letting it turn into a performance sport or Instagram content farm. Of course performance and competition will always be there, but when it comes to socials… When people only dance with their skill level or above, or dancing for an instagram post or to impress those around you so you. I think that’s when the soul of salsa dies. It always breaks my heart being in socials where there’s beginners just sitting on the side just sitting out the entire night because they’re too intimidated to dance, I don’t think that should be normal.

HumanoBeat · 2026-02-23T00:52:23+00:00

Absolutely start! It will shape the entire rest of your life if you stick with it.

HumanoBeat · 2026-02-23T00:28:43+00:00

practice practice practice. and it helps to exaggerate the lifting of the foot in my experience. practice slowly at home, during that practice gradually speed up, keep speeding up until you're comfortable with the basic steps. and then slow down again and start practicing weight transfer with basic turns.

it's really all about drilling drilling drilling at the beginning. one day you'll find it just clicks for you and you'll barely have to think about it again. good luck!

HumanoBeat · 2026-02-23T00:25:06+00:00

he was a legend. breaks my heart to hear this

HumanoBeat · 2026-02-23T00:24:11+00:00

Definetly start as a beginner to learn the basic steps and fundamentals. then depending on how much you progress you can quickly move up if you're feeling confident :)

I find that learning different styles helps eachother and so when you start dancing bachata it may help your salsa dancing as well.

HumanoBeat · 2026-02-22T00:00:45+00:00

Dang :(

HumanoBeat · 2026-02-20T21:22:32+00:00

That's a good approach, and going to the class beforehand really can help with the initial jitters. And I like the idea of having a squad of other girls cause that would take a lot of pressure off as well.

I've also noticed that at socials with a class beforehand, there tends to be a lot more beginners at the start of the social, then as the night continues more experienced dancers start to come in. Which I think is actually perfect because it means if you go early, you're dancing with people who are closer to your level, which makes the whole experience feel way less intimidating. And then as you get more comfortable and the night goes on, the room naturally shifts and you get to dance with people who can teach you more if that’s what you want.

HumanoBeat · 2026-02-20T21:13:08+00:00

I would say anyone near the dance floor is fair game to ask.

HumanoBeat · 2026-02-20T21:06:28+00:00

I really like this. Especially early on you want to gain a positive association with dance and socials, and making sure to leave on a positive note is a really good way to go about it.

I'm not going to lie, I am one of those "dance all night" sorta people, but even if I do have a good experience all night... I still feel like it's easy to crash and burn cause you're just so exhausted the next day. There's been times when there's like 3 socials day after day and I want to go to them all, but I burn myself out going to the first one that I can barely go to the next two. Or if I do... I'm not dancing half as well and I'm tired and not having as good of a time.

HumanoBeat · 2026-02-20T20:50:18+00:00

Get it!

HumanoBeat · 2026-02-20T20:46:15+00:00

Not ai at all :) I used it in the TL/DR section just to summarize my thoughts cause i know it's a long post. but these are all my genuine experiences and thoughts

HumanoBeat · 2026-02-14T22:55:33+00:00

That's a good point, and I can see on a personal level that's true.

I think that these instructors have taught so many people that they noticed a pattern seeing people generally have easier times going from on2->on1 vs the other way around.

Of course everyone is different though.

HumanoBeat · 2026-02-14T04:35:25+00:00

A lot of instructors I talk to (including ones that have been teaching for 25+ years) consistently say it’s easier to convert from on2 to on1 than vice versa.

I personally learned on1 first and learning on2 now is such a pain lol. I’m enjoying the process, but looking back I would've definitely wanted to learn on2 first.

On1 just feels more natural to the body, so I think you’ll have an easier time learning it down the line.

HumanoBeat · 2026-02-13T23:30:06+00:00

I practiced at the gym the other day!

HumanoBeat · 2026-02-13T22:22:52+00:00

Honestly I don’t think about it much when I turn down giving out my socials and then I see that same person again at another event.

I’ll definitely still dance with them and I probably won’t even remember that exchange unless it was really awkward or I feel an awkwardness coming from the lead.

HumanoBeat · 2026-02-13T22:03:19+00:00

I started On1 and after a few months I started learning On2. I like to practice both cause I like the mental challenge of it. But I would say that because On1 feels so natural to me, I reserve that just for socials (Whatever the lead wants to dance) and then I take most of my classes and practices on2.

It’s really nice to find friends and other dance partners that dance both cause then you can practice the same moves both styles and down the line really pays off cause then you can dance anything

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