Secrets for Multiplying Salsa Turn Patterns!

Some of the tips in this article are Classified Salsa Dance Information. Please do not share them with your Salsa Dance instructors or your fellow Salsa students. The information contained in this ground breaking article will make you not only become a better Salsa Dancer, but it will also make you less dependable on other sources. Sharing these secrets with others will only make them become more special than you.

Welcome to your Salsa Independence.  

Many followers get bored with leaders repeating the same Salsa Turn Patterns endlessly, and Beginners & Intermediate leaders frustrate because of their inability to vary their dance. Men  tend to get fed-up with ladies doing the same styling over and over again. They all blame these 'faults' to their lack of dance techniques. The solution they think is logical is to learn even more Turn Patterns and Styling by heart. They soon discover that they fail to apply all the new techniques they learn during workshops at international Salsa Festivals, Bootcamps, and more advanced dance classes.

In this article I will share some Secrets to Salsa Turn Pattern Management meant for your eyes only.

Using the Music's Structure for Turn Pattern Management

Freestyle Salsa Dancers 'cut and paste' seperate Salsa Dance Techinques and combine with Shines, Body Movements and Styling to create their own Salsa Dance. These actions are led by the dancer's free interpretation of the music which is heard at that moment. The dancer also reacts to his or her dance partner. Most Beginners and Intermediate Salseros will hear the music and start executing the Turn Patterns they have learned from the very beginning of the song. If, let's say, a Beginner knows about five Turn Patterns, and each lasting for about 10 seconds, then he will be through his dance material after 50 seconds of the five-minute song. He will then repeat these Turn Patterns many times during the remaining four-and-a-half minutes. This is why some Salseras get bored or start anticipating dance moves. A trained observer can distinguish and guess correctly which Salsa Dance instructors taught the leaders to dance Salsa. The best thing to do is to take Musicality classes and spread the Dance Techniques - not the Turn Patterns - over the whole song. 

One of the first secrets of Turn Pattern management is the men realizing that Salsa Turn Patterns are not 'holy': dancing Salsa is not about executing Turn Patterns flawlessly, but it is all about improvisation. But how can you improvise if you were drilled by your Salsa Dance instructors to learn Turn Patterns by heart? The answer is easy: just let go of the Turn Patterns outside your dance classes, and follow the next advices to the letter.

Transition is the Key

Executing Salsa Turn Patterns is all about mastering the different ways of going fluently from one Dance Technique to another without stopping. So the best thing for a leader to do is to cut the Turn Pattern into its composing Dance Combinations. A Dance Combination is an average of two Basics long, two times eight counts in the music, and has two Dance Techniques in it. A Dance Technique is one Basic in length. A Cross Body Lead and a Right Turn are both Dance Techniques, and a Cross Body Lead which is immediately followed by a Right Turn or the other way around is a Dance Combination. If a Turn Pattern is longer than a Dance Combination, for example a Right Turn (1) followed by a Cross Body Lead (2) which in turn is followed by a Left Turn (3), then the leader should practice the combination of '1 & 2' , '2 & 3', and '3 & '1 separately. And remember: the longer the Turn Pattern is, the less flexible you will become if you focus only on mastering this lengthy Salsa Dance Choreography.

Multiply Your Dance Techniques

A good practice is to change the order of the Dance Techniques in a Turn Pattern. Change the order of the individual Dance Techniques in the previous example. A 'Cross Body Lead - Right Turn - Left Turn' pattern can also be danced as 'Right Turn - Left Turn - Cross Body Lead'. You will create two new Turn Patterns. If you decide to combine the individual components together with repetition of techniques, for example 'Cross Body Lead - Right Turn - Cross Body Lead', then you will create a total of eight extra Turn Patterns.

Varying Hand Connections is also an excellent way to maximize the amount of Dance Combinations. If a leader only leads the follower in a Right Turn using the 'Left to Right' Hand Setting or Hand Connection - the left hand of the leader is connected to the right hand of the follower - then he will miss six other ways to lead her. There are seven standard ways to hold hands: four Single Handed, and three Double Handed Hand Settings. If a leader leads a lady with his left hand, then he should also lead her with his right hand, etc. Caution: the man will end in a ' Hand Knot' when he starts dancing in an Open Dance Position, leads the woman in a Right Turn, and makes a Right Turn after she has finished. Super Mario invented Handthrows, Handdrops, and other Hand Shines not only for styling, but also to make all turns possible and without having any discomfort. This means that if you apply this handiness you will then create 9 x 7 x 7 = 441 Turn Patterns with only a Right Turn, a Left Turn, and a Cross Body Lead.

If you think this is amazing, then I have to tell you that we are not finished yet.

A leader can also use parts of the body of the follower to lead her. Her chin, shoulders, upper arms, lower arms, elbows, hips, and her upper legs are all lead-able areas. You do the math. Many Dance Techniques in LA Style Salsa on1 and Mambo on2 are lead by signaling. Some expert leaders and followers also play with 'No Hands Lead': the leader indicates the lead in the air and the follower reacts accordingly. This means that a leader can indicate a Right Turn to the follower without touching her. Again, do the math.

The leader can also lead the follower in a turn by keeping one Hand Setting up and the other one down. This results in Hammerlocks, reversed Hammerlocks, Cuddles (Hugs or Wraps) and reversed Cuddles. A Cross Body Lead can also be danced as a reversed Cross Body Lead. This simple way to change the direction of the dance from anti-clockwise to clockwise doubles all Turn Patterns which are danced using Cross Body Leads. Reversing all the dance moves is also a good practice. If a man walks clockwise around the lady, then he should also do it counter-clockwise, a Right Turn becomes a Left Turn, etc. Single Handed and Double Handed Loops (Sombrero's) can also be added to the mix.

When you see or learn a complicated Dance Move, try to siphon out the basic Dance Techniques and vary these with all the variations mentioned above.

Followers Styling

The best tip for women using Styling when dancing Salsa together with a dance partner is, 'Less is More': Styling should only be used to complement the men's lead. A woman will optimize her (small) styling arsenal if she deploys her Arm and Hand Styling strategically. Use Arm and Hand Styling only to accentuate 'highs' and 'breaks' in the music. Ladies should be more concerned with mastering their Body Movements and their Following techniques instead of executing as much Arm and Hand styling as possible when partnering. The follower can 'show off all her stuff' when she is doing her Shines/Footwork. And remember: if all woman are using the same Styling techniques over and over again, then none of them are special.

Go out 'Salsa Clubbing' as much as possible!

The best way to put all these tips into practice is to go out and dance Salsa as fast, and as many times as you possibly can after your dance classes. The longer you wait, the faster you will lose the information. You will remember about 20% of what your Salsa teachers explained to you during his or her Salsa instruction. This information will gradually seep away during the week. The longer the Turn Pattern is, the harder it will be to reproduce the dance choreography at the beginning of next week's Salsa class. When Salsa clubbing, focus only on one or two Salsa Combinations (two Salsa Dance Techniques) at a time. Do not repeat them endlessly, but combine them with the dance techniques you already know. Try to vary them using the Secrets I have shared with you in this article. And be playful: Salsa Dancing is no 'serious business'.

Do not share this information. If everyone is special, than no one is. Try to vary the Dance Combinations in the following video using all of these tips.