Salsa Dancing & the Evolution of Move Junkies

I have been teaching Salsa since October 1997. Since then,the number of complaints from ladies and other dancers on the social Salsa dance floor about men who seem only focused on executing as much intricate dance moves as they possibly can in one Salsa Song has increased dramatically. The men are also complaining of ladies not paying attention to them and not focused on following their lead when dancing together. 

The time has come to address this problem.

Ladies dancing Salsa hope to dance with men who can lead them in such a way that they feel special, secure, and comfortable on the dance floor. Salseras also desire to be lead into nice looking Dance Techniques and Turn Patterns, which they can execute with ease. The growing focus on the way the dance looks instead of how it feels to dance together has driven men to make a direct connection between the number of intricate dance moves and their natural desire to please women. A vast majority of Salseros have the notion of more intricate dance moves equaling even more dance partners. The real question should be if this idea is a false assumption, or not.  

The process of a Salsa Dance Leader (or a Follower) becoming a so called 'Move Junkie' happens in several stages and for different reasons. The transformation starts from the first moment the leaders and followers get mesmerized while seeing Advanced and Master Level Salsa and Mambo Dancers in action. The ones executing their best looking and spectacular dance moves will attract the most attention. The core of this ‘problem’ lies in the self-consciousness, the judging of the spectators, and the lack of romance. 

Psychological processes such as ‘mirroring’ will instantaneously take over and dictate the actions of the ones observing the dance. Mirroring is the process of extrapolating your own feelings and opinions unto others. For example: when you see a Salsa Dance Couple dancing ‘horribly’ or ‘boring’, then you are extrapolating your own emotions and standards unto them. They do not need your judgment. It should be sufficient to watch them enjoy themselves without the need to judge their dance capabilities. The judgmental spectators think the other dancers will view and rate them in the same manner in which they judge others (= ‘mirroring’). The whole Dance Industry evolved around this phenomenon. The phrase ‘Dance Like No One’s Watching’ is getting outdated by the second.

A natural desire to become the ‘Alphas’, or to be able to dance with the best Salsa Dancers on the dance floor, drives thousands of people around the globe to take Salsa Dance Classes or Dance Workshops. Theoretically, it is not necessary to take any classes to dance (freestyle) Salsa. Dance Instruction became ‘unavoidable’ for modern social Salsa dancing because of the growing number of rules, regulations, and ‘Non Lead-able Dance Moves’ put into American, Miami Style, and Cuban Salsa. Taking part of instructional groups is also a good way to hone and nurture the Social Salsa skills needed to achieve the ultimate goal of ‘Dancing with the Salsa Stars’ in a relatively short period.

Rejection and Intimidation 

The next stage of ‘Move Junkie-hood’ happens because of rejection and through intimidation. Advanced Salsa dancers will only dance with Beginners if they are their friends, their students (economic reason), or if they are physically attractive. The difference between the development of men and women becomes more apparent at this stage. Attractive women who cannot dance ‘properly’ will still get more Advanced male partners dancing with them in comparison to the amount of rejections a hunk with no leading skills get. Men are more willing to teach the budding Salseras how to dance properly on the dance floor than their female counterparts are. Some of these women feel embarrassed, while others relish in this special attention. More than occasionally female Beginners ask male Salsa Dance Instructors to teach them how to dance during their free night. Advanced followers on the other hand tend not to instruct on the social dance floor. They have learned that women have to follow the leaders ‘no matter what’, and it is not their job to instruct these men. Many Salseros of all dance levels do not even know they lack good leading techniques. Telling them the truth is risking the chance of being called a ‘bitch’, or a woman who does not know what she is talking about. The egos of men can be very fragile. The followers prefer to reject the dance instead of going through all this trouble. 

Therefore, the female Beginners will develop faster than the male leaders. Leading is also more difficult than following. These struggling men have a ‘double handicap’ to overcome. They also get intimidated by Advanced followers. The Rookies argue: “I cannot please her the way those Advanced guys can.” The behavior of these women, especially the ones choosing to dance only with high-level dancers, will give these the guys this (false?) notion of needing an arsenal of dance moves to please them on the floor.

Addiction

For dancers, having the Flow while dancing Salsa or Mambo can be very addictive. This addiction enhances when the dancers grow popularity and status. The compulsive desire to achieve these things by executing more intricate dance moves is the last stage of becoming a Move Junk. One of the main characteristics of addictions is of them being self-centered in nature. This compulsion prompts leaders and followers to be more aware of their surroundings instead of enjoying the dance together with their dance partners while taking care of each other. Move Junks have this designation because of their behavior on the dance floor being similar to the actions of drug addicts: they do not care for the wellbeing of the people in their direct vicinity, they hurt the people they have direct contact with, and both of these types of addicts develop a tunnel vision blocking everything else away.

A solution to this problem is the popularity of using Musicality when dancing. It breaks the tunnel vision making the Move Junks focus on other things instead of their intricate dance moves.