I got into Latin dancing (primarily Bachata) about a year ago. One of my friends needed someone to go with her to “Latin Dance Night” at a local venue for extra credit. I agreed thinking it was going to be Reggaeton music and Spanish remixes of English songs. Well, I stumbled into a scene of upwards of fifty people of all ages moving their hips and showing off their best Salsa and Merengue moves to the smooth vocals of Marc Anthony and Frank Reyes. In short it was proper Latin dance. Sexy, classy, sensual and NOTHING I knew how to do. It was a little terrifying, but a year later it is one of my favorite things to do. Moving to Richmond from Virginia Beach, I was worried the dance scene wouldn’t be as big. Again, I was wrong. Knowing how big it is here, I can guess there are a lot of people in the area who want to try it, but haven’t. Well it is with my year of experience and help of some fantastic girls on the VCU Bachata and Salsa teams that I give you a run-down of what you should know before you hit the floor for the first time.

1) Try to learn the basics before you go

Some places will offer a quick lesson before the social dancing starts. I would recommend that if you have never done this before that you take it. At the very least it will help your confidence to just know the basic salsa step before the more experienced dancers somehow whisk you away into a mess of twirling and sometimes dipping. If no lessons are offered look up a video on YouTube. You know what here. Let me help you.

Bachata: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhHGdBBF7Xk

Salsa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG4mMdxDkL8

If you don’t like those, there are literally hundreds of others you can look at. Hop on it.

2) If you can’t get the basics, worry not

The first time I ever went dancing I had NO idea what I was doing. However, there were a lot of really nice people who were willing to teach me. Fortunately, being a follow is easy (I think it’s easiest with Bachata) and if people know it’s your first time they aren’t going to be judge-y.

3) Go With Friends

Think of it like going to a club. You wouldn’t go alone and be subjected to fending off the advances of bad dancers and creepy guys by yourself would you? Me either.

4) When I say its all ages I mean ALL ages

At home, I was probably the youngest there at 17. I danced with 19 year olds, 80 year olds, and every age in between. It is a beautiful, diverse crowd of people who are all there for their passion of dance. It’s really a very cool thing, so keep your mind open and give every partner a try.

5) Dress Nicely

Seriously, it kind of goes along with the whole “the nicer you look, the nicer you’ll feel”. Also the nicer you look the more you’ll be asked to dance. Ladies, this doesn’t mean you have to show off everything. Just wear something that makes you feel confident, it will help I promise.

6) Don’t wear loose clothing or big jewelry

Loose clothes means falling down, rising up, and general readjustment and discomfort. Also, its happened to me before where a partner has gone to grab for me and thought I was there when I wasn’t… it was just my clothes… awkward. Big jewelry creates the same problem. It gets caught and tangled and it’s just not a good idea. Stick with studs, girls. In addition to this, don’t wear glasses because they can get knocked off your face really easily. Contacts are your best bet. Oh, no sandals either. Your feet are going to get sweaty and slide around.

7) Some leads are going to suck

Sorry, it’s just a fact of life. They’re human just like you and they might mess up. They might just be starting out so they only want to do the basic step (which can make that 2 minute 43 second Anthony Santos song feel like an eternity… a very boing eternity). Or they might think they know what they’re doing, when in reality they probably don’t know what a four count is. OR they might try to finesse the hell out of you by swinging you around everywhere and dipping you. I’ve had a guy pop my shoulder, and a different guy drop me on a dip. Get through the dance, put some ice on it, and get back out there, Champ.

8) Some leads are going to seem rude, snobby, or just mean

Again, leads are people too. They come with the insecurities of people as well as the complete arrogance of people. Just chalk it up to the fact that they’ve probably been dancing for forever, and you’ve just started. They’re used to a certain caliber of dancer and you just aren’t there yet. On the bright side they probably won’t ask you to dance again.

9) It’s totally ok to say no to a dance

Let’s say the aforementioned guy who dropped you or popped your shoulder or who was just an AWFUL lead comes back for more. You are in no way obligated to say yes to a dance. Just say you want to take a break and sit that song out. Going along with this, don’t get offended when people don’t want to dance with you. They may not feel confident enough to dance with someone who might need a little teaching, or they may genuinely just need a break. Go with the rule of two. If you ask them to dance twice and they say no, move on.

10) However, be very selective in leaving in the middle of a dance

If you’re dancing with someone and it’s just very boring, or you don’t like the way they look you should probably just hang in there; however; if a guy or girl you’re dancing with is making you uncomfortable or making advances at you after you’ve told them to stop you can totally bail. Try to have a friend who you can signal to who can call you off the dance floor if need be, or maybe fake an injury. Once I was dancing with a guy who was approximately 40, which is normally not a big deal. Most of the time they just want to dance and aren’t trying to get anything but a dance, but this guy was persistent. He consistently hit on me, even after I told him I was under age and I had to continually…umm… readjust his hands. Finally, I just started getting really off beat because he was making me so nervous and he goes “look into my eyes and you will find the music”. Nope. He went to spin me and I just spun away.

11) Girls don’t assume a guy is hitting on you just because he asks you to dance or dances with you in a certain way

FIRST of all that’s really kind of self-centered. A lot of the guys there are married or attached. They aren’t there for thirsty Thursday or because they’re trying to find someone for the night. Leave that for the night clubs. They are there for their love of dance. ALSO Latin Dance is Latin which means it’s basically inherently sexy. Don’t assume just because a guy is dancing close to you that means he’s interested. I mean he is… in the dance…not you. Just hold off on throwing your number at him until you see other signs of interest. K? AND ANOTHER THING the older gentlemen there aren’t hitting on you either. Odds are they’ve been doing this for YEARS which means they are probably going to be REALLY good leads. So if you say no to a guy because you have a boyfriend or they’re too old for you, you played yaself.

12) You’re going to get so cultured and meet so many cool people

I have learned so much about the culture of the dances and met so many cool people. The group of people I danced with back home were better friends to me than peers of my own age. Tuesday night Bachata was the highlight of my week for a really long time, yes because of the cool dancing but more so because of my amazing friends I met because of it. I’ve been out with the VCU team one time and I already think they are some of the coolest people I’ve met here. Get ready for all the new friends.

Well, I hope you feel prepared to go slay on the dance floor. Put on your dancing shoes, take off your hoop earrings, and go dance with EVERYONE. Learn all that you can and HAVE FUN.