Salsa Dance Etiquette: From Sensual to Doggy Style

Amsterdam – The newest dance craze in the international Salsa dance community is the Bachata dance, which has its origins in the Dominican Republic. The Brazilian Zouk Dance - an evolution of the very sensual Lambada – is also growing in popularity. Something both of these, in origin ‘forbidden dances’, have in common is the shift from dance couples dancing with their bodies (or their pelvic areas) ‘glued’ together, to dancing mainly in an Open Dance Position (= dance couple holding hands).  A better understanding of cultural differences is the key in understanding this evolution, and to respect each other’s boundaries when dancing together.

In 1984 I started dancing Merengue (also from the Dominican Republic) in show teams. I was 14 years old and living on my native island of Curacao (Dutch Antilles). Nearly all teens and young adults danced close together on the social dance floor. At that moment in time the dance was evolving from dance couples walking around on the dance floor in what is internationally known as a Closed Dance Position (= dance couple holding each other but without their bodies touching each other) to dancing with their bodies fully connected to each other. I call this the ‘Body to Body’ Dance Position. The dancers paired in this manner with all their dance partners. The so dubbed ‘1 Tile Dance’ (=dancing Body to Body on 1 spot) soon followed. The problem a normal teenage boy usually has when dancing Body to Body is getting sexually aroused. A good friend of mine taught me how to concentrate on dancing only. I became a very popular dance partner. So far so good.

About 2 years later the girls with whom I usually danced started to refuse to dance with me. Instead they constantly danced with other guys whom at the end had large bulges in their pants. The rules of dance engagement had changed once more. When I arrived in the Netherlands (in 1989) and went to dance in the so called ‘Ethnic Clubs’ my dance perspective had to change radically. I learned that most European women do not like to dance close together. Instead they loved to dance from an Open Dance Position and follow intricate dance techniques. A growing number of people started to teach and organize Salsa dance classes. The dance scene soon split into Ethnic clubs – where dancing Body to Body was still the norm – and Salsa clubs. And the rest – as they say - is history.

In 2010 dance forms like ‘Perreo’ (= dancing ‘Doggy Style’ on Reggaeton music), the Jamaican ‘Bubbling’ & ‘Daggerin’, and the Brazilian ‘Funky Carioca’ have sexual dancing as the norm. Salsa, Modern Bachata ,and the Brazilian Zouk are ‘sensual but stylish’ dance forms. Because of these differences I started to teach the following Guideline for partnering dance: “Leaders lead and Followers follow. But the Follower dictates the space between her and the Leader”.  A rule which, unwittingly or not, has since become a paradigm on the Latin dance floors in Europe.