by Shulagh Jacobs | May 25, 2017 | Dance Yourself Happy
The Salsa VIP Day – Case Study Last weekend I spent 5 hours with a special lady. Jo is a really keen social dancer, does regular classes and is eager to improve. She lives a fair distance away from me, and has lots of other things going on in her life, so coming...
by Shulagh Jacobs | May 24, 2017 | Men's Salsa
During your first few weeks of Salsa lessons, you were taught the Cross Body Lead. At least I hope you were (unless you were learning Cuban of course…) You were probably taught a specific pattern of steps for this move, and repeated it over and over. 1,2,3,5,6,7… No...
by Shulagh Jacobs | May 16, 2017 | Men's Salsa
The main barrier to guys becoming proficient leads in Salsa is not what most people think. It’s the way Salsa is taught to guys that causes most of their problems. As you may have already discovered, leading is multi-tasking of the cruellest variety. Not...
by Shulagh Jacobs | May 2, 2017 | Salsa Music
Guys… You’ve probably experienced this scenario: You lead your partner onto the floor. You get ready to start your Basic. And then you realise. There is no “one”. In fact there’s no beat at all. The music is just...
by Shulagh Jacobs | Apr 24, 2017 | Uncategorized
Wouldn’t it be great if you could buy confidence… From the supermarket or mail order from Amazon. This Salsa thing would be so much easier. You wouldn’t be scared of messing up. Of making yourself look stupid. The problem is, confidence isn’t constant. It comes...
by Shulagh Jacobs | Apr 23, 2017 | Social Salsa Dancing, Uncategorized
Back in my early days of dancing Salsa, one of my first moments of real, sublime dance floor connection was to this tune… To this day it’s still one of my favourites: I’ll never forget that dance… It was the first time I felt truly in synch...
by Shulagh Jacobs | Apr 20, 2017 | Beginner's Salsa
And what the hell IS it, anyway… Rhythm is just a series of repeated events which occur in a regular pattern. It’s all around you. The sun rising and setting. Horses trotting and galloping. It’s inside you. Your heart beat. Your breathing. Your pulse. So you...
by Shulagh Jacobs | Apr 19, 2017 | Beginner's Salsa, Dancer's Body
People often ask why I focus on the science behind dancing and learning to dance… To me it’s very simple and obvious. Salsa dancing, although both an art and a physical skill, requires complex interactions between brain, body and nervous system. Understand how...
by Shulagh Jacobs | Apr 17, 2017 | Salsa Music, Social Salsa Dancing
When you’ve been dancing a while there’s a word that starts to appear in your vocabulary. That word is musicality. It’s a mystical word because no one really seems able to categorically define it. Yet most would agree that it’s something that all good dancers possess....
by Shulagh Jacobs | Jan 24, 2017 | Ladies Salsa, Salsa Styling
For me, styling my Salsa dancing has always been about freedom of expression and choice. However as our dance scene evolves, trends in shows and performances influence social dancers, and the stylistic boundaries that separate one dance from another become...
