Advice for those that take PRIVATE LESSONS…
By Edie, The Salsa FREAK!!
“Dear Edie,
I just spent over $1,000 dollars on private lessons. I feel like the gal I was taken lessons with just didn’t show me how the lead is supposed to feel. I think I need to start now and try with a guy, but I feel creepy dancing with a guy (I’m a guy). Any advice?
– New Student.
Dear New Student,
We have a great article called “Choosing a GREAT Instructor” here at Dancer Hangout.
Make SURE your instructor can execute BOTH the MALE AND FEMALE lead and follow. We teach this specifically during Black Belt Salsa (BBS) Certified Instructor Training Courses.
Take privates from the “Best of the Best” – the cream of the crop. Don’t waste your time nor money. The value that you get from going to the top of the food chain is worth a thousand times more than if you chose 2nd best. How do you know they are best? OBSERVE THEM DANCING with many different people at dance clubs. If they can make ANYONE look good – not just their normal dance partners, you’ve struck oil. Choose the “one” that people talk about most. We have an amazing list of BBS Certified Instructors that may be in the area, you can choose from.
You need to feel how YOU are supposed to feel. If you are a leader, your female instructor should be able to “Lead YOU” like she’s been lead by World Class Dancers, so you can feel how it is supposed to feel. You will get this feel from a male instructor, but if you can’t handle a male instructor, then she had better be a bad-a__ss lead LIKE A MAN. Period.
If you are a follower, your male instructor should be able to follow you like he’s used to being followed, by some of the best followers he’s ever known. He should feel very feminine in your arms. If he does not, then you need to go find a female instructor. You will get this feel from a female instructor.
Your instructor should do comparisons – how the lead or follow is “supposed to” feel, and then demonstrate to you how YOU feel afterward, so you can see and CORRECT the contrast.
They can only “explain” so much without doing the “physica” kinesthetic comparison.
Most of the time, the BEST way to learn is to feel YOURSELF within every move. And the ONLY way you will be able to feel exactly how YOU FEEL is if an instructor can mimic your lead/follow to compare. In the BBS, we call this pro technique “Gender Flipping”. This is the absolute FASTEST way of conveying to students how to correct themselves in seconds, without having to try to explain it all verbally for thirty minutes.
You will know you have a GREAT instructor when fellow dancers at the clubs start complimenting your dancing, asking you to dance more than one song, asking who you’re learning from, asking for your number, texting you, and wanting you to be on their dance teams. Once you have women waiting for you outside the men’s restroom, “YOU HAVE ARRIVED” – you “struck oil” with whomever your instructor is. Click here for information on private lessons.
… BIG TIME!
Happy Dancing!
– Edie, The Salsa FREAK!!
Edie The Salsa FREAK!! Website
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