Salsa dancing has tremendous and surprising health benefits. Group synchronous movement such as playing in a marching band, synchronous swimming, military drills, choral singing (think small muscles), etc. releases endorphins and makes those in the group feel bonded to each other. In other words, it makes people feel good and brings out their community spirit. I see this in real time at my Salsa Rueda class (proper name: Rueda de Casino). Those dancing together become friends and start hanging out after class, helping each other out, and generally building a warm dance community with people referring to it as their “dance family.”

In addition, like all physical exercise, dancing is good for physical health from cardiovascular to muscle and bone health. And like all social activities, connecting with other people enhances well-being, too.

Soon after I opened my Danceintime Studio and started teaching, a study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. It presented research on the relationship between cognitive health and an array of physical and mental activities. A number of mental activities were correlated with cognitive health. Dancing was the only physical exercise of many that were tested, that showed this correlation. I remember thinking to myself: “For once, I’m in the right place at the right time!”

When two things are correlated, there is no certainty that one of them caused the other. All that can be said based on scientific evidence is that the two things tend to co-occur. Perhaps further research will parse this relationship but regardless, it is certainly good news for dancers!

The health benefits of dancing—both physical and mental—are so many and so varied, that in my book on Salsa dancing, I have a chapter devoted to this subject. It’s titled: The Synchrony and the Ecstasy: The Astonishing Health Benefits of Dance Exercise.” Another excellent book by a dance professional has a chapter titled “Prescribe Dance, Not Drugs.”

So take a tip from a seasoned dance teacher and sign up for a class; it can be a great boon to your feelings of well-being!

The answer to this could be as varied as what makes a friend a great friend. People have different concepts of what is important, so there can be many different answers, all correct or meaningful. But that said, I have taught Salsa and Rueda de Casino for over 20 years, and I will give you my opinion…

A great Salsero would unquestionably have sharp timing so that their steps match the beats, and beyond that, generally a great dancer responds to the feeling of the music. So when there is a music riff that plays with the rhythm, the dancer’s moves reflect that. And dynamics of the music are also reflected in some way in the dance steps.

In addition, a great dancer makes the dance comfortable for their partner, dancing to their level of sophistication as well as doing moves and styling that their partner understands and can easily respond to. A great dancer has some personal, creative touches in steps or styling that express their feeling for the dance and are original and unique.

Though it may not be essential for being a great dancer, a dash of humility even in the presence of great talent certainly is a factor in being a great human being. I don’t think there is anything wrong with knowing that one is extremely talented at something. The problem is when someone thinks that makes them better than other people. I have family members, friends, and dance students who have trouble keeping the beat and are among the finest people I know. And conversely, I know terrific dancers who I don't care for. So particularly for those with talent, it's important that they never confuse talent with overall worth as a human being. Great Salsa dancers “wear their talent best” when they are humble.

What counts is always someone’s intentions, and people can sense the intentions of another person. When I see a doctor for a medical appointment, I have no concerns about undressing and letting the doctor examine me—sometimes quite intimately. I don’t confuse that with sexual interest. I understand the doctor’s intention is simply to ensure my continued health.

Likewise, a professional dancer practicing steps or preparing for a performance or competition with a partner is working toward a serious goal. Even when routines have “suggestive” moves, that doesn’t necessarily lead dancers to be romantically involved.

Like movie actors playing their part in a sex scene, dancers can be attracted to each other and initiate a romantic relationship or they may not like each other yet still dance well together. The two lead actors in Dirty Dancing, Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey seemed to have great on-screen electricity but reportedly disliked each other. Good actors are good actors!

In fairness, the physical nature of dancing may encourage attraction. But there is so much more to the story. The work of professional dancers and actors can also be a breeding ground for conflict and arguments. They are working on a big, often difficult task and have to find ways to accommodate and compromise with each other. It’s not unusual for professional partnerships to split, citing “artistic differences” which is code for personal conflict.

My guess is ballroom dancers “usually” don’t have a romantic relationship. But does it happen sometimes? Of course. But it can happen in a bookclub, or on a ping pong team as well—no dance floor required. Human beings are well known to be social creatures.

I have taught Salsa and related dance styles at the Danceintime Studio for over twenty years and I publishing a textbook on these dance forms. My book includes over 500 video links that illustrate moves, styling for dance steps, etc.

It’s very comprehensive and has interesting stories about dance performances and events. The book is available here: amazon.com/dp/B0DK7D98XK, in “e-book,” softback, and hardback formats. The title is: “Salsa Dancing & Rueda de Casino Guidebook for Beginner to Advanced Dancers.”

I can also recommend these books which are excellent: 1) “Dancing Is The Best Medicine: The Science of How Moving to a Beat Is Good for Body, Brain, and Soul” by Julia Christensen and Dong-Seon Chang. 2) “Spinning Mambo Into Salsa: Caribbean Dance in Global Commerce” by Juliet McMains. 3) “The Joy Of Movement” by Kelly McGonigal. 4) “Rueda de Casino Syllabus Teach 101″ by Nikol Kontouri. 5) “The Salsa Dancer’s Missing Manual” by Raul Avila. The latter book is mostly about rhythm and timing.

When I teach mixed levels, I explain the basics, and drill them a while which is just a review for experienced folks. But like a musician practicing scales, it is still helpful for beginners to keep their basic skills sharp.

I have trained “local celebrities” for a couple of informal dance competition programs in and around the Washington DC area that were take-offs on Dancing with the Stars. In addition, I have taught countless classes for dancers at all levels of proficiency so I understand what is involved.

Dance teachers teach moves and technique. The other “teacher” that dance students have is a thing called “repetition.” By doing moves over and over for practice, the physical actions become easier and more natural.

Sure. Dancing to music just requires the tempo that works for the dance pattern you are dancing. It just won’t feel quite as “Latin” as if you are dancing to actual Salsa or at least other Latin music! But it can be done. There are a number of Salsa songs that are really just adaptations of popular American music that are played in a Latin style. Those can be fun to dance Salsa to. Dancers and musicians are artistic and often enjoying playing with different approaches or modalities.

And there can be some benefits for learning moves by playing with rhythms or tempos. Sometimes dancing to very slow Latin music such as Cha Cha is a great way to drill steps and get smoother at them. You can bump up the tempo when the move is more automatic!

There are a variety of matters of etiquette for social dancing of any kind. In Latin dancing, leaders are expected to dance to the level of their partner. This is common courtesy—a sophisticated leader shouldn’t try advanced moves with someone obviously not familiar with them. The idea is to make a partner comfortable so it’s possible to enjoy the dance!

Likewise in crowded spaces, dancers must keep steps small and arm movements more constrained so as not to accidentally collide with others on the floor. If a collision nonetheless occurs, it’s appropriate to stop and say you are sorry and be sure the other person wasn’t hurt. If they were hurt, you can see if you can help them in any way—though hopefully such accidents are very rare!

It’s considered rude to walk off the floor before a dance is over. However if something is hurting you, you can explain this to your partner and then leave so you aren’t hurt further. Sometimes a knee or ankle gets tweaked and the best thing is to stop dancing. So there is always a tactful way to leave the dance for your own safety.

Another rule of thumb is that if someone asks you to dance and you refuse, then you shouldn’t accept another request right after that. It’s kind to tell the initial person who asked that you are taking a break. Then if you would like to dance with the second person who asked, just tell them you’d like a raincheck for the next dance so they know it’s not that you aren’t interested.

Most of these are really common sense things that are a matter of being considerate of others. That is important for life both on and off the dance floor!

Salsa dancing has tremendous and surprising health benefits. Group synchronous movement such as playing in a marching band, synchronous swimming, military drills, choral singing (think small muscles), etc. releases endorphins and makes those in the group feel bonded to each other. In other words, it makes people feel good and brings out their community spirit. I see this in real time at my Salsa Rueda class (proper name: Rueda de Casino). Those dancing together become friends and start hanging out together outside of class.

Asia was extremely talented; I think that is obvious.

There is no way to tell whether stage fright will prevent a career that involves performing as there is no way to know in advance if the individual can find a way to adapt or overcome this problem. But I suspect that a way to deal with it is to do small things in front of “soft” audiences such as performing for young children who aren’t going to be critical and gradually getting acclimated that way. Or one might just force oneself to look over the heads of the audience and focus on a clock or other item on the wall, ignoring the audience. Another ploy might be to imagine that all the members of the audience are your friend and try thinking of them as trusted buddies. Relaxation techniques may help as well. There are many things someone can try—to see if they are helpful.

The tempo (beats per minute) is too slow to dance Salsa, but it’s fine for Cha Cha Cha. Cha Cha Cha is a dance that is like a “cousin” to Salsa—different but still similar. In Salsa, you step on three beats out of every 4-beat dance phrase. A step that lasts one beat is called a “quick” step and a step that lasts for two beats is called a “slow” step. In Cha Cha Cha, the tempo is slow enough that instead of taking just one step in two beats for the “slow” step, it’s possible to step three times during those two beats. That puts you back on the same foot as Salsa for the next step, but those three steps are each a little faster than the “quick” steps that last for one full beat. The three steps are the “Cha Cha Cha” steps.

Because of the rhythmic relationship described above, many Salsa moves can be adapted so they can be done to a Cha Cha rhythm. And by the way, Americans shortened the name of the latter dance to Cha Cha. In Cuba it’s called Cha Cha Cha!

Check out videos and books that you can find online by googling. My Danceintime studio has a page for instructional videos, with video lessons on Salsa steps at all levels. I also am publishing a book on Salsa dancing which is available on Amazon. Youtube is a great source of instruction on all kinds of dance styles and dance levels. As with countless other subjects, you can learn quite a lot by googling things online. Although I do suggest that to learn dance moves, you go to a class or a Salsa/Latin dance Social from time to time for practice. That helps you hone your lead/follow skills, get familiar with the size of steps you should be taking, etc. People can learn a great deal online or from reading, but you also gain a lot from practicing with other dancers.

Of course not! That’s a great age to learn. So is nearly every age! My dance class gets folks with a wide age span and the class works just fine that way!

Dancing with someone who is off time is difficult. You cannot predict when they are going to take a step, and you are trying to dance in synchrony with them. Synchronous movement isn’t possible if you don’t know when they will step because you have to wait until you see them taking a step and then try to quickly step to keep up with them. You’ll always be a little behind them. So it doesn’t feel comfortable. This means you have an extra challenge to your dancing but it doesn’t mean you cannot have fun dancing… It just won’t be rhythmically perfect.

Regarding how to help someone with a timing issue, I can address this for dancing Salsa and some other Latin dances, which I’ve taught for many years. I explain ways to deal with rhythm issues extensively in my book, “Salsa Dancing & Rueda de Casino Guidebook for Beginner to Advanced Dancers.”

After teaching for over 20 years, I discovered that most, though not all, timing issues improve or go away with enough practice. That is because some issues are really just because the dancer doesn’t know what to do next—isn’t thinking fast enough to transition from one action to another. In addition, some timing issues in Salsa dancing occur because it’s hard for someone to step on beats 1, 2 and 3 in a 4 beat phrase even though the dancer really does feel the beat accurately. For example, they may be rhythmically off but then hesitate briefly and start to step on the next beat 1 correctly. In both of these situations, practice and drill over the course of weeks or months will correct the problem.

The more significant issue occurs when the individual even after months or even years of practice cannot consistently step on the beat of the music. Some people have ongoing trouble perceiving the rhythm accurately. In that case, if they dance Rueda de Casino, (which is sometimes called Cuban Salsa though Casino is the technically correct name), they can dance in sync with the other dancers by watching and mimicking them. They need to pay attention to the other dancers in the group continuously, but this does effectively keep them on the beat.

While dancing any Latin dance with just one partner, a dancer can try to pick up cues on the rhythm from their partner. They just aim to move in their partner’s tempo. Matching the rhythm of other dancers is a “work-around” but it can be very helpful. And in any case, lots of drill always helps minimize a timing problem because people get accustomed to dancing in the range of tempos that are typical for the dance they do.

There was a time when leaders were men and followers were women, almost exclusively. But times have changed in keeping with the changes in gender norms. Now learning to do both the lead and follow parts are considered part of an advanced dancer’s education. If you are a relatively new dancer, it’s fine to learn just one part. It’s probably best to become solid on one before attempting to learn the other part.
But the thinking is that leaders do better by grasping the follower’s part because they understand the interaction between lead and follow better that way. So it makes them better leaders—and vice versa!
If it makes you uncomfortable to dance with other guys, you might just give it a try for a while as I think it’s something that people get used to. But if not, you can try to find a class where that doesn’t happen. Different teachers run classes differently. At my Danceintime studio, it’s more common for ladies to dance with ladies although sometimes men dance with men as well. We just get used to thinking of people as dancers, and feel it helps everyone learn good dance technique. But it’s fine for each individual to find classes that work for them!

First of all it is essential to know how to float. That is a crucial life-saving skill, recommended for everyone to know in case they fall into a body of water. To teach someone to float, you can hold their hands, stand in front of and facing them, and have them push forward with their legs against the side of a pool. The push helps hold them afloat in the water, and as you step back and they move forward, gradually the force of that push lessens and they are held up by the water. So that eases someone into the feeling of floating. Just hold their hands and walk backward for longer and longer time segments on each try, as they get accustomed to the feeling.

Then learning to swim is a matter of moving arms and legs in the coordinated rhythm required to do freestyle. This is much like learning a dance move because the arms and legs are on different rhythms. So you are learning to move the arms in a pattern similar (but not identical) to a windmill action, while legs are kicking steadily with a light bend at the knees.

I tried to teach a friend to swim years ago and she got the arms and legs separately. But she seemed appalled at the idea of doing both at the same time. No worries; it’s just a matter of practice. Think about a drummer who has each hand and each foot operating drum hits in a different rhythm. It comes with practice!