When can I follow Salsa Dance Styling Classes?

All Salsa dancers - especially the Salseras - have experienced this at the beginning of their Salsa dance careers: seeing and admiring advanced & master level Salsa dancers executing electrifying Styling whilst dancing. It is a natural urge for Beginners wanting to learn and trying to emulate these special dance moves, but the real question is if they are up to it or not.

Styling in Salsa can be defined as: additional or extra dance moves and techniques in Solo and/or in Partnering dance. The purpose is to not only make a fancy dance move, but Styling can be often used for practical or for safety purposes. An example of the latter is the follower using arm and hand Styling such as “Lady Hair Combs” to keep her free elbow away from her partner's face whilst executing turns and spins. Another definition for Styling would be: the extra dance elements Leaders and Followers use during the regular Partnering dance and Freestyle - Shines, Footwork or Solo - to add an extra dimension or to give their own Salsa that extra flavor. Styling also makes the dancers unique in their own way of dancing, and it also gives the dancers more tools to interpret the music with (= Musicality). Styling on the social dance floor is done by Leaders and Followers to impress and to challenge each other.

The non-practical Styling has some serious disadvantages to it, with the main one being the inability to lead or follow properly whilst partnering. A rule of thumb is: a Follower using lots of Styling whilst partnering will have more problems following the lead of the Leader and/or the Leader will have more problems leading her in the manner he had intended. This problem decreases with the dance level: the higher the dance level of the Salsa dancers, the better they can execute Styling without disturbing the lead or the follow of their dance partners.

Conclusions

• Salsa dancers who are Beginners – especially the Followers – should focus more on mastering the basic Partnering dance techniques before learning non-practical Salsa Styling. The prerogative word is “additional” and not “essential”.
• “Less is More” can also be applied to the amount of Styling dance elements whilst partnering. The Leader will be happy and the dance moves will stay “special”.
• Salsa dance instructors should not teach non-practical Styling for partnering dance to their Beginners students.
• You can use as much Styling as you like while you are Shining, doing Footwork or Solo dance.
• Try to use non-practical Styling elements only  as a means to interpret the music and your feelings, but not as a “standard” dance moves.

Watch Rebecca demonstrate some Latin Styling techniques for ladies in Freestyle dance.