Stopping Sex Molesters on a Salsa Dance Evening

There is nothing more humiliating to a Salsa dancer than a partner committing sexual harassment on the dance floor. In the holiday season, many people who are not from the Salsa scene end up celebrate Christmas and New Years Eve amidst dancers whose only wish is too Salsa and have fun all night long.

There are some very easy tricks to avoid problems between the two groups.

Alcohol will be flowing quite abundantly during the holiday season of the month of December. And, many people who are not from the the Salsa dance scene will also attend the numerous Christmas and New Years Eve Salsa parties taking place in hundreds of cities and towns all around the world. Just a couple of days ago, I had to:

• Walk a Salsera to her car to protect her from a guy she danced with (and he wanted to leave with her),
• cheer up a girl from a man who told her that he just came out of prison and that wanted her to leave the venue with him.
• And, one visitor – who stayed drinking at the bar for the whole evening -  started to pick a fight with the bartender because he refused to take a sip from the enraged man's beer. The drunken man suspected that someone had thrown something in his last beverage. And, he also thought that the bartender was responsible for guarding his glass. So, I calmed him down and spoke with him outside the venue, trying to explain how wrong his reasoning was. He seemed completely calmed down when he entered the venue and started the fist fight once more. 

All of this took place in a single evening and at the same Salsa venue.

Read this article for another real account of a married man sexually harassing OnlineSalsa.com's content writer Anna BFC in Beijing (China), and this one (also read the comments!) on Salseras avoiding Salsa instructors on the prowl .

See the following video clip of Cincinnati's Masked Superheros. Warning: this is NOT the right manner for solving these problems.

Tips for Dancing with a Stranger showing Bad Behavior
The following tips can help you to avoid an embarrassing - or a seemingly helpless – situation happening on and off the Salsa floor.

1. Dance tip: Use your free hand create distance between you and your dance partner.

Most dancers will start their Salsa ( with the Son Basic), Merengue, Bachata, Kizomba, Zouk and other Latin dances in a Closed Dance Position. Tip for the followers (ladies): Move your right hand, which is probably lying on his back, and position it to the front of his (left) shoulder. Now, start stretching your arm whilst pushing away against his shoulder. Increase the pressure of your back against his left arm and pull youself away from his embrace. And, keep on dancing in an Open Dance Position. This manner in which a Salsera marks her boundaries is also a non verbal signal to indicate that she does not wish to dance intimately with that particular dance partner. If this does not work, just tell him staright away that you are not sexually interested in him. And, if this approach does not work either, then walk away and warn one of the organizers ,or a staff member, and  tell them what just happened. Make sure to indicate the right person though.

2. Ask the management/security to ask the people who are just standing and drinking in the middle of a fully packed Salsa floor to vacate it.

Do not try to do it yourself!

3. Apologize whenever you feel that you hit someone on the dance floor.

Apologize, even if you are certain that he or she hit you instead of the other way around.

4. If someone you do not know offers you a drink and you accept, then you would be wise to accompany him/her to the bar.

Make sure the bartender hands the drink over to you. Do not leave your drink unprotected or out of your view whilst dancing.

5.  Stay calm, smile, and talk in a courteous and polite manner, but be affirmative and clear in your communication.

Do not feel guilty and think that you brought this bad behavior unto yourself because of the sensual manner in which you dance. He is supposed to respect you and your boundaries at all times!

6. Some men will follow their dance partners and try to “sweet talk” the female Salsa dancers into their beds.

When he tells you that you are blushing, then you should answer him the truth: that you are not breathing heavily due to his advances, but because you have been dancing from the moment you took off your coat.

7. When someone asks you for a dance and you do not trust him her - maybe because you have already seen him/her in action with other dancers- then you should just refuse the dance.

If he or she persists, then follow the final advices of tip number 1.

You can comment below and share some of your own safeguarding tips for dancing with annoying strangers on the Salsa floor.