On the "salsa-lens"

The Salsa Community, just like any microcosm of society, has its fair share of interesting personalities. However, those characteristics that make people stand out in the world at large, are not always the same as those which would make you notice or remember someone outside of the Salsa Community. Let's use the term "salsa-lens" to describe the coloured glasses that taint our vision on the dance floor. Note that the "salsa-lens" opinion of people is not necessarily a negative opinion, simply a slightly warped opinion formed following interactions that are primarily non-verbal or indirect.

What you first learn about most people on the dance floor relates to how they dress, how they move, the attitudes they appear to have and of course, what other people say about them. Indeed, before dancing with someone, you're unlikely to sit them down for a drink, ask their name, age, address, occupation and marital status. Instead, you might watch them for a dance, or even just a few bars, make a snap decision or ask a friend what they think. Then you'll take the plunge and ask them to dance. Your first encounter, other than a few seldom spoken introductions, will be played out on the dance floor, while your partner tests to see whether you can execute a cross-body, single right hand turn and while you attempt to adjust to his lead and follow gracefully. It's a dance, in more ways than one: these first bars are the ones where you start building a connection with your partner. They will be crucial to your joint enjoyment of the dance and in determining too whether there will be any more such occasions.

So how does the "salsa-lens" provide a distorted vision of reality?

Clothes

I know women for whom salsa is not just a dance, but an occasion. More importantly, it's an occasion to dress up. Forgetting for a moment the modern day fashions for short and glitzy dresses, if you're going out dancing, you're going out to a party and will be forgiven for thinking that you should dress the part. What is the part exactly? That's up to you. I have girlfriends who have whole wardrobes of "salsa outfits". These might be short dresses and skirts, tops that display their middrifts, or materials with colourful patterns that look mildly tropical. Or they might simply be t-shirts that don't fall off, colours that don't display sweat marks, skirts that don't spin upwards, clothes that are essentially at the height of the comfort scale. Whatever the person's choice of dance floor attire, this may not be any indication of habits in the outside world and may simply be part of their chosen "salsa style".

How many salsa men make a habit of attending non-salsa parties with waistcoats and (bow) ties? And yet, somehow, this has become the mark of a confident and (usually) able male congress dancer. The same goes for those who chose to wear hats.

The "salsa-lens" thus provides a distorted view. Not only might the person take on a whole new persona on the dance floor, as portrayed by their clothing, but you might find that you buy-in to it - men may gladly dance with women in short skirts, merely for the sake of the skirt and women may find themselves drawn to men in hats (ok, so maybe that's just me?!). Clearly what you wear has some influence on who you dance with, so surely it influences our wider opinions of people on top of our readiness to accept a pending dance proposal?

　

Movement

Most people will acknowledge that your clothes only really contribute to the first impression you give to others. Talk to experienced dancers and you will find that they do not feel the need to dress up at their local social - everyone knows how they dance so their clothes will have very little to do with the partners they dance with. However, move them to a congress environment or a foreign salsa scene, where they know fewer people and they will explain that they feel the importance of wearing something a little more formal in order to get noticed, asked to dance or simply to decrease the risk of being turned down.

How you move on the dance floor is much more important to members of the Salsa Community. Your sense of timing, your dance style, your musicality, your ability to follow or lead smoothly will all be things a potential partner will be looking out for before and after they have asked you dance.

Moreover, you will be perceived as a function of these qualities. If all you know about a person is that they are a stubborn follower with excessive arm tension, the odds are that you will assume that they are pretty stubborn and independent-minded in real life! Luckily, more information that this can be gleaned when looking through the "salsa-lens", but the point remains - personalities can easily be extrapolated from relatively limited information garnered on the dance floor.

　

Attitudes

The same goes for attitudes. Confidence is key to how others perceive you. How focused are you when you dance? Do your eyes light up, or do you accidentally scowl when you concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other? As a newbie, I think I used to concentrate so hard that I forgot to smile - people often had to remind me to do so! Looking overly concentrated or even bored while dancing is not something you want your partner to notice!

Other attitudes are important too. How does he turn you down when you ask him for a dance? How graciously does he accept your request to dance with him? Does he follow you around the floor like a puppy/stalker? Does he invade your personal space, despite the fact that you are turning your body away in a clear non-verbal expression of disinterest? Does he interrupt your conversations? Does he ask you to dance again once he's turned you down? Does he accept someone else's request to dance after having turned you down? Does he dance with you and for you, or does he dance for a real or imaginary crowd?

Take this last question. I love dancing with natural born performers. These are people who want to show off, who strive to be good enough to be able to perform on the dance floor, even if it's solely for the benefit of themselves and their partner. These natural born exhibitionists are confident in their abilities and unafraid to take risks with the music when the fancy takes them. However, whether or not they have actual stage experience, this can be taken too far. I cannot bear dancing with the most amazing dancer and being forced to acknowledge that I am little more than an ornament on his arm. Even worse are those dances, when you're dancing with said amazing dancer, where there's no crowd to be seen and yet where you can feel that he's looking over your shoulder for sources of attention. If there's no one there, why isn't he looking at me?

Key attitudes observed via the "salsa-lens" appear to be linked to manners, confidence and of course general dodginess. I would hasard to suggest that these attitudes are amplified on the dance floor, even if this is only because of how easy they are to perceive in this environment. But is a creepy man any less so when removed from the salsa environment? Do salsa divas become shy when they take their dance shoes off?

Recommendations

What we know about people in the salsa community also depends on what our friends or other addicts have told us. I've already written a post on the importance of networking on the dance floor, which tells of the positive effects of spreading knowledge of good leaders. Note also that any negative opinions are likely to be shared as well. Comments like "be warned, he might break your back" are unfortunately common. Comments about B.O., leading technique, timing are also welcome when considering a potential partner. Comments shared about extra-salsa activities may also influence your opinions of other Salsa Community dwellers. I'd encourage you to keep an open mind though, sometimes jewels get dismissed and a whole community fails to experience the joys of dancing with a visiting salsa dancer.

Sometimes of course, you should listen to your friends. I neglected to do so last Sunday at my own peril. I was having a bad night and accepted a dance from someone I had repeatedly been warned off. It was actually quite laughable how many things he had going against him. In fact, I'm struggling to find anything good to say about the guy. To list a few: he almost broke my arm, several times; he couldn't do a basic step; he had no sense of timing; he strung along moves that he could not lead and tried repeatedly telling me where I should put my arm or hand in order to help him complete the move he had in mind; he didn't appear to have any leading technique at all; he didn't appear to even remotely be listening to the music; he never even bothered to look at me, smile at me or even look remotely like he was enjoying the dance! I've never used all of these points to characterise a single dancer and halfway through the song, when I'd figured out that trying to follow didn't make sense if he wasn't trying to lead, I rather wanted to burst out laughing.

This guy seemed so uninterested in me as his dance partner or in building any form of temporary connection with me or the music, that I was left baffled! Suffice to say, I think I may listen to the recommendations of my friends next time and accept that however much the "salsa-lens" twists reality between the real world and the dance floor, friendly recommendations from under the microscope apply to the environment being studied!

　

So how does the "salsa-lens" provide a different view than that gleaned off the dance floor? I've found that in most other environments, the first question people ask you when you meet relates to your job. On the dance floor instead, fellow community dwellers want to know how long you've been dancing, not what you do with the rest of your time. How much you earn is of little importance, but your passion, style and musicality are key. Earning power is supplanted by dancing ability. Personally, I like to hide behind the "salsa-lens". Dancing is a hobby for me and as such, I like to keep it separate from my working life. Not talking about work while out dancing is in large part responsible for the fact that I love my hobby so much - it's escapism at its best!

So sure, you might get misjudged under the "salsa-lens", but this might happen off the dance floor as well. The point is that you get the chance in the Salsa Community to prove yourself on a different basis and build your network based on the image you chose to project (or accidentally project) while on or near the dance floor. If you work at it, you will improve - it's like a mini version of the American Dream!