Salsa will change your life!
I think it’s fair enough to say that anyone who starts dancing salsa (or any social dance for that matter) sees some fairly noticeable changes in their life after a short amount of.
We change, we become different from the “muggles” (a term used to refer to people without magic powers in the Harry Potter series) (NOTE: I’ve never read the books but someone told me the term in reference to non-dancers and I liked it). So yeah, once we’re accepted into the Secret Society of Salsa (S.S.S.) we become different from the muggles… those without magical powers of salsa.
Here’s a little list of some of those things that we often do now as salseros, which we never did before.
- When stepping onto a relatively large floor, like in a restaurant, bar or even someone’s home, twisting the ball of your foot from side to side on the surface to gauge the friction and therefore dance potential.
- Subtly nodding to yourself and giving a look of appreciation when the above floor meets your standards.
- Your adrenaline rises and your heartbeat accelerates when you hear a salsa song played in a completely non-salsa setting.
- The above reaction is intensified when you’re together with another salsero and give each other that look of knowing something that no one else there knows.
- You dress better and suddenly become far more adventurous with your wardrobe. This could be the skin-tight sparklies common in performances, a revealing little dress with some added flare for the ladies or for the men… you know what I’m gonna say… waistcoats 😉
Yup, that’s a salsa dancer right there!
- Doing some serious shoulder and hip movement when you’re dancing to “normal” music. Even listening to music at the bus stop is enough to make you bust a little move if you think you can get away with it
- Drinking much less alcohol. Gotta maintain some level of balance!
- Packing for weekend salsa congress becomes a serious logistical dilemma when trying to pack enough clothes for 3 nights of social and two days of workshops into a little carryon bag.
- Having a weeks worth of laundry to do after said weekend becomes totally normal.
- Sweating profusely becomes second nature!
The damn song didn’t even last 4 minutes and look at me.
- For the ladies, trying to find make-up that will survive all the sweating so you don’t end up looking like the girl from “The Ring” by the end of the night.
Make-up smudging half way through a kizomba night
- For the guys, bringing a few extra t-shirts when going out is a fact of life.
- Listening and tapping your foot along to normal music and trying to figure out if you could dance to it.
- Close physical contact with complete strangers is no longer a problem for you.
- Reacting to breaks in music in public with a subtle body movement followed by looks of concern from the people around you.
- Feeling slightly awkward at other social functions where no one is dancing.
- When trying on new shoes the first thing you do is a spin test to see if you could dance in them.
- Dance classes/nights out/congress’ etc become monthly fixed expenses, just as important as rent and electricity.
- Personal hygiene becomes even more of a priority.
- Planning a vacation now involves the essential step of looking up possible latin clubs at your destination.
- You become incredibly critical of “salsa dancing” you see in popular movies or on TV… “I could do better than that”!
- You always have chewing gum.
- Your social circle explodes and Facebook friend requests blow up after a congress.
- You constantly say that you’re going to learn Spanish so you can understand the lyrics of your favorite songs… but it never quite happens.
- Standing in front of a full-length mirror is a perfect opportunity for some shines or body isolations.
- You feel like a living legend if any of your “muggle” friends ever see you dancing with another salsero.
- You ask complete strangers to dance and accept dances from complete strangers… I’m pretty sure no one did that before starting salsa.
- Hearing a particular song brings back really powerful memories of that amazing dance you had with that cute girl/guy a while back… ufff!
- Ladies, some of you have probably decided you didn’t need to buy groceries for a week just so you could get that new pair of dance shoes that caught your eye (to be honest, this one probably isn’t that different from the muggles).
- Men, you have become unfazed by ridiculing comments made by your non-dancing, male friends and family.
- You pass other salseros, who you don’t know but have seen out dancing, on the street and you give each other “the nod” and subtle smile of salsa acknowledgement! You both walk away feeling special.
- Random body rolls 😀
The list could go on.
So, what do you think? Do you recognize any of these new habits in yourself since joining the world of salsa?
Or what have I left out? Let me know in the comments and I’ll add them to the list.
Keep dancing folks.
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The Dancing Irishman 
To add to the room/floor one… sense of seriously wasted floor/space when you come across an open smooth wooden floor that ISN’T used for dancing, such as office receptions, landings, hotel lobbies, etc. Also, if you’re a salsero with carpeted floors in their home, serious floor envy of friends with spacious wooden floored homes.
Have to agree with you 110% on that one 😀 . I’ve seen way too many wasted floors in my day.
Love it! Add to the list “You try to figure out if you can sneak in time at a salsa club or dance studio when you’re on business travel (and should be concentrating on the next presentation).”
From my experience, you can always fit it in (the hard part is going to a club and trying to stay for only a “few” dances haha)
Learning to salsa dance has boosted my confidence and honed my social skills far more than I ever expected. It is without doubt forged true friendships and benefitted both health and temperament. Everyone who dances I believe improves as a person.
Absolutely, actually I mentioned that in an article about all the ways that salsa makes life better:
https://thedancingirishman.wordpress.com/2013/02/19/22-ways-salsa-makes-life-better/
True!!!!
this had me laughing so hard because it’s so true !! The only thing that I would add is that dancing the dress becomes part of the purchase process. A true salsera knows to make sure the outfit performs well , she does not want to spend the night pulling down the skirt or adjusting the shirt, and if there’s a question on how the outfit will perform she takes a spare . And you only know this if you have true dancing experience !!! Love and live to salsa
Haha I’m glad you liked it. The only thing I’ll say about being careful about the dress chosen for a night out dancing is that I regularly see women who haven’t put too much thought into it… just like you said… pulling down the skirt ALL night hahah.
Thanks for the comment Leticia.
I can no longer buy a dress without doing a short shine pattern (or two) in front of the mirror in the dressing room. And my closet went from only having 2 dresses to having…hmm…yeah, there is no way I am admitting how many dresses I now own. But I go dancing multiple times in a week, so I swear I NEED them. It’s not something trivial like food or shelter. Water and air are still necessary though, especially after the dj plays 2 or 3 songs I love in a row.
We all come up with reasons to justify our addictions hahaha 😀
Yessss! Loved this!!! So true 🙂 life is definitely better with dance in it, but salsa is a particular favorite of mine as well! ❤ (btw- i laughed out loud to the one about testing out the floor- guilty!)
hahaha, yeah it’s become almost a natural reaction for me to do it too. Thanks for the comment Amanda 😉
Haha… One thing I’d like to add. After doing salsa for a while, when you see a cute girl on the street (or in any non-dance setting), your first instinct is to ask her for a dance and charm her with your skills. Whether or not one follows through with that instinct is what separates the boys from the men 😉
Haha, then it ends up being an “if only they knew” situation haha
Hahaha yes. Yes. Yes. But no. Please. Please NO CHEWING GUM. Yuk.
haha, not while dancing of course.
I totally agree with every single thing you said! It is amazing how many things you never did before have suddenly become everyday routines or “issues” for that matter. I am one of those who don’t wear fancy dresses when going out dancing, I just need to feel comfortable so I can focus on salsa! Still when I go shopping clothes the first critiria for purchasing a piece of clothing is if I can wear it at a salsa party. You know, the color and the fabric, it has to be the kind that doesn’t show much when you sweat.. Also the dancing shoes.. I have to have 3 kinds! The heals, the flats and the ones for outdoor dancing! (Yes we have a lot of outdoor dancing in Paris).
Another thing is that I always carry around a bag that containes dancing shoes, fresh tshirt, deodorant, talk powder, ect.. because I go dancing straight after work (unfortunately no time to go home first in week days). I am always like that, sometimes on a day without dancing plans, sneaking the dancing shoes in my bag JUST IN CASE… 🙂
Hahaha, i’m glad you were able to relate to the article Mariana. Thanks for the comment 🙂
Great article! And completely recognizable. Nowadays when I am travelling, I always have a quick search on the internet to see if there isnt some salsa closeby !!
Something I would add to the ‘social explosion’ is that suddenly in your social life you start to have “salsa friends” and “non salsa friends” and when organizing something with friends, you always take that in consideration 🙂
DJ ASMADI !
Absolutely, i have to organise my time with friends based thinking about who dances and who doesn’t haha