By watching the good dancers and talking to them I have found out some of the secrets or tricks they use when they go out dancing. These are details of general interest for both beginners and veterans, because all of us, novices and experts, want to dance better and better.

The good dancer listens and feels the music

Many beginners say, “I don’t know a meringue from a salsa. This is a lesser evil that can be cured, since in a short time you learn to distinguish, above all, by having a good dance teacher who explains to you the musical characteristics of each dance.

What is most important is to get to feel the music. The Greek philosopher Plato said: “Music is to the soul what gymnastics is to the body”. Music can be felt within oneself, it is a language of the soul, it is a universal language.

Everyone lives music in a different way, some play it by playing musical instruments, others by singing, others by dancing and others by listening. However, the way to feel the music is for everyone.

To dance you need to know certain basic techniques, but there is something you need to do as a priority and that is to join the music and tune in to it. When a couple dances, what brings them together at that moment is the music, it’s nothing else.

If you want to be a good dancer, you must look for the beat within the music and depending on the dance, you will learn in which musical time you must take the first step and then the others.

There is nothing more frightening than seeing a couple dancing outside the time of the music… Try hard, because you will see many dancers, beginners and veterans, who are not interested in hearing and feeling the music.

If you do not have musical training try to illustrate yourself a little in this, try to receive some classes and if it is not easy for you to receive music classes, at least to have a slight notion, listen to music by yourself, without dancing.

Looking for the instruments that are “hidden” in each piece of music, look for sounds, stronger, weaker, look for the repetitions of an instrument, etc. This will help you to understand music and dance better. So the first secret is: Listen and feel the music!

Culture yourself in the history of the dances

Acquire some information about the origin and evolution of the dances. That will make you understand them better. For example, if you knew that “waltz” is a word that comes from the French “valse” and that this word comes from the German “wälzen” and that this verb means “to turn”, it would be easier for you to understand why the waltz is danced the way it is.

Another example: if you knew that the merengue is a dance whose origin is in the African slaves that the Europeans brought to America and that they made their songs and dances in the fields where they were enslaved, with shackles that weighed 10 kilos on their ankles and that when they wanted to dance they had to do it with their feet dragging, it would be much easier for you to understand why the merengue is danced so at ground level.

This is dance culture and a good dancer should know this kind of thing. The second secret is: Use your talent by illustrating yourself in the history of the dances.

The more you dance the better you will dance

The more you dance, the better you dance, and there are certain keys that girls use to get them to dance. Anyone can see that by watching them. The most common is to be seen, that is to say, they are placed in a place close to the dance floor or next to a well-lit place where they can pass by

Because if they are placed in darker and cornered spaces, nobody will see them. Another resource they have is to be placed near the access to the toilets, because sooner or later we all pass through there.

Another option is to try not to run around with other girls, but rather to be alone or with little company, because if the boys see them talking and talking, it is more difficult to get them out. When you are talking, don’t engage in big conversations, use short phrases and conversations and look at those who are dancing or who have finished dancing.

If you are new in a room, try to be seen dancing, ask if there are any backup dancers and ask someone to introduce you. Once they see you dance, it will be easier to get them out. And many use a technique that is almost foolproof: If the kids don’t ask you to dance, ask them to dance. By the way: Nowadays it’s a good idea for girls to say to boys,
The third secret for girls is “If they don’t ask you to dance, ask them to dance.

Try to understand your dance partner

Sometimes, in my classes, when a couple is arguing, because of “you don’t know how to handle me…” or “…and you don’t listen to me”, which is why dance couples usually argue, what I do is I put them in a few minutes playing the changed role, so that the woman plays the man and the man plays the woman. Two minutes is enough and that helps them understand, especially when they are beginners, how difficult it is to do what the other one does.

I have always thought that the best thing is for each one to play their role, but sometimes I tell a girl to take me as a girl, so that they experience that it is not so easy to “drive” around the dance floor and at the same time to experience for myself how difficult it is to dance as a girl, because I am not very used to that.

Dancing changes people

It is impressive to see those same people a year later. Both girls and boys look younger and better-looking. They all have a before and after they have learned to dance.

It is true that dancing brings many benefits, as true as it is that dancing makes each one, woman or man, take more care of their physical appearance.