Top 10 tips for surviving your first salsa class

1. Get as much info as you can before you go. There’s an FAQ and lots of other articles at our website secretsalsa.co.uk . For videos, including all of the steps you’ll be learning in the beginner class, check out our YouTube channel youtube.com/secretsalsa and if you “like” our facebook page, you’ll get a regular update of all the new stuff we have going on.

2. Get to the class early – Arrive 5 to 10 minutes before the class starts and you’ll be much better prepared to start the class in a relaxed frame of mind. Also, you won’t miss the first part of the class, or disturb the other students.

3. Bring a friend – You can come on your own, lots of people do, but you might be surprised to find that lots of your friends or family members would love to join you. (Find out by updating your status on facebook and asking them to join you!).

4. Talk to other people – Salsa is a very social hobby and the quicker you get to know other people there (salsa people tend to be a very friendly crowd!), the quicker you’ll start relaxing and enjoying yourself.

5. Wear the right clothes – Most importantly, wear what feels comfortable. People usually wear smart casual clothes. Jeans and a t-shirt are fine unless you want to dress up a little which is great too. (You might want to reserve your nicest clothes for our party nights though!).

6. Wear the right footwear – ie, footwear that stays on your feet. Flip-flops are definitely not good! Shoes that have a non-grip sole (ie: not rubber) are best, but don’t worry too much. If you only have rubber soled shoes, wear them and if you find that you want to keep dancing, we can advise what’s best later (in an upcoming blog post!).

7. Focus your attention on the teacher. There’s a lot going on in the room, but try not to watch the other classes. The teacher only talks when they have something important to say, so listen. If you’d like to watch the dancers in the higher level classes, stay for the practice session at 9pm.

8. Don’t worry about other people watching you – most of the other students at the class will be concentrating on learning their own steps and if anyone sees you mess up, you can be sure they messed up once too. Everyone starts at the beginning and in a few short weeks, you’ll be looking great!

9. Watch out for the small stuff – if you’re getting the steps quite easily, try to listen and watch for the small details, that will help you look better in the weeks to come.

10. Prepare for your next class. The first class is always the most challenging and you can now go back to our beginner salsa video page and practice your basic steps, so you look like an expert next week .

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