Following on from the Sofa to Salsa Beginner Course, this eight week programme will equip you with more of the techniques, moves and confidence you need to feel at home on the Salsa dance floor.

Where Sofa to Salsa laid the foundations, Freeze to Freestyle starts laying down bricks and mortar to expand your repertoire and buid tangible skills which will translate into enjoyable social dances.

Dances which feel fun and connected because they don’t rely on leads remembering long routines and putting pressure on themselves.

You’ll learn more interesting variations of moves you already know along with some new, more complex partnerwork patterns.

You’ll increase your repertoire of footwork with some simple combinations and additional steps so you can shine in solo work.

Keep It Simple, Stupid!

What you’ll realise is that 95% of what you see more advanced dancers doing on the social dance floor is actually much simpler than you first thought.

It’s mostly variations on a very small number of moves – some of which you know already.

This course will teach you how to recognise those moves and “join the dots” in your mind, giving you a more empowered experience when dancing freestyle.

This enables you to have a playful and spontaneous approach to social dancing which builds from what you can already do rather than beating yourself up about what you can’t.

By recognising options in common scenarios and understanding how moves link together, you will learn to lead or follow improvised dances with confidence.

This is much more fun than trying to remember every move and combo from every new routine you learn – a punishing and high pressure method which rarely translates to improved experiences on the dance floor.

Many dancers make hard work for themselves by attempting to learn each new combination from scratch.

They also try to run before they can walk with material which may be too complex or technically challenging for their current skill level.

The Biggest Challenge

At this stage of your Salsa journey, the biggest challenge is developing a reliable method of remembering the new moves you are learning.

And this is where most people struggle.

Especially if they are taking classes with a number of different teachers (and this isn’t necessarily a bad thing)

BUT

Each class will dump more moves into the mix. 

There will be exponentially more to learn.

Much of the material will feel similar – which isn’t surprising given there are only a limited number of distinct moves.

But as many of these will have subtle variations it can be confusing for leads to remember not only the exact move/combo, but how to get in to it and exit smoothly.

Many followers are conditioned to believe that none of this is their concern, and all they have to do is “just follow”.

But those followers who can take ownership of their own role in the dance by knowing their footwork for each move inside out – and recognising when they occur in the dance – will have a supreme advantage on the dance floor.

They will always look more balanced and composed than those who don’t.

I always liken this process to a Salsa “Sat Nav” where updates and new destinations are uploaded every week.

But our brains are not computers and therefore only have a limited capacity for information.

My Method

My strength has always been breaking things down to make them super simple, and explaining everything in clear laymans language which everyone can relate to.

The Freeze to Freestyle course is progressive which means each class builds on the previous week and has specific learning goals.

My teaching methodology works in harmony with your brain and body, allowing you to assimilate and retain the content faster whilst getting plenty of repetition in order to embed that all-important Salsa technique.

By making each lesson flow seamlessly from the minute you walk in with a warm up which genuinely prepares your mind and body for the challenges of learning Salsa, you’ll feel relaxed and in the zone.

You’ll learn and you’ll have fun with a sense of accomplishment at the end of each class.

As in the Sofa to Salsa Beginner Course we will spend the beginning of each class working on individual footwork, movement and musicality, followed by partnerwork technique and repertoire.

Developing Salsa Technique

Technique makes all your moves look, feel and work better.

But what does “better” actually mean?

• Smoother, more seamless flow
• Less effort or force
• More aesthetically pleasing

Although there are many layers and levels to technique, it can really all be boiled down to six core concepts:

Musicality

Balance

Energy

Footwork

Body Movement

Connection

We will be working on these important Salsa skills to give you the platform you need for more complex content.

When you apply these to everything you learn, they become part of your dance DNA and embedded into your movement.

This is why it’s critical to ingrain good habits as this is a crucial stage of your Salsa journey.