Again--if you're taking it for direct pickup because you think you will pick someone up on the salsa floor, probably not your best bet. For body awareness, movement, confidence, and because it's a lot of fun and a challenge--all things which will help pickup indirectly--definitely.

I'll disagree with Stitch.

If you really learn how to dance you can use it for direct pick up. Get your moves together, dress the part and you'll do fine.

It's much harder to rip out of your classes as more are there to "learn". Better to pull out of the "drop-ins" and real salsa venues. Effectively, if you can't teach a complete newbie how to dance you're not going to fare well on the floor. Once you can you'll yield good results.

I'd say if you were a former athlete, (gymastics, basketball, soccer, anything with high footwork and coordination) you'll yield results very fast (sub 6 months).

Get out there and learn!

YES then go to south america and reap the rewards

Quote:I'll disagree with Stitch.

If you really learn how to dance you can use it for direct pick up.

Actually, we're in total agreement. But to "really learn how to dance" takes a long time--and unless you've been at it a long time, there will always be a lot of guys in the club who can out-dance you to hell and back, so if you're trying to use your salsa skills alone to impress, that's an iffy proposition. Although this part of what WestCoast said rings very true:

Quote:Effectively, if you can't teach a complete newbie how to dance you're not going to fare well on the floor. Once you can you'll yield good results.

The "drop-ins" who are already nervous are very good propositions. The guys who can really dance well want nothing to do with them, because you can't effectively dance at a much higher level than your partner, and they want to show off (I'm not even all that great, and I get really frustrated with women that can't dance, particularly if they think they can). And if you're good at teaching (and being a good teacher isn't all that easy, but the basics and a few turns are easy to teach), you could use that in the club--although I imagine "oh come on, you can do it; let me teach you a little salsa" would be a very good early-date excuse to show higher value as well as getting you moving with and touching a woman outside a club venue.

Having said all that, though, I still don't think "I want to pick up girls" is the best motivation for studying dance, because I think there are a lot of other things you could do for less time investment that would be more effective. But you should try it and if you really enjoy it, that's good enough reason.

I love house music and would love to dance with hot chicks at Pacha or Ministry of Sound. When you dance with a girl you can touch her ass, her breasts and yet she doesn't mind, and once you finish dancing you can isolate her and sit down do some kino, go for the kiss, and depending on how drunk the chick is, you can even take her home. Now when you cannot dance, it's obviously hard to escalate at night clubs. Another crucial reason I wanted to take dance classes is because it's a pussy-fest, hence I could have hooked up with a chick or two. That said, I invested all my money in clothing, so the dance lessons will have to wait.

Quote:Another crucial reason I wanted to take dance classes is because it's a pussy-fest, hence I could have hooked up with a chick or two.

My experience does not bear this out, though it's a popular idea. Across a fair spectrum of classes in a few different studios and towns, the numbers have been surprisingly close. And as has been noted, many of the women in classes aren't there to meet people.

Stitch Wrote:Again--if you're taking it for direct pickup because you think you will pick someone up on the salsa floor, probably not your best bet. For body awareness, movement, confidence, and because it's a lot of fun and a challenge--all things which will help pickup indirectly--definitely.

I took a couple semesters of basic ballroom/salsa when I was first learning game, and tested it in several situations. Stitch sounds spot on; it's worthwhile to learn, but isn't a magic bullet. Dance lessons are also one of the few places where you can have your posture critiqued by a professional. So like everything else, it depends on your time, energy, and goals.

Bottom line: just do it for a couple months. But don't use it as an excuse not to chat up girls for several hours every week.

On a side-note (not related to salsa)...you're kinda lucky to have access to the house music clubs of London. Still some of the best in the world. Right up there with Miami & Ibiza from what I hear at least for fans of the music. I'm sure if you can find a way to dance to it while you're vibing to it in the clubs it should only help.

(10-15-2012 02:29 AM)AlbertoDelMuerto Wrote:  I love house music and would love to dance with hot chicks at Pacha or Ministry of Sound. When you dance with a girl you can touch her ass, her breasts and yet she doesn't mind, and once you finish dancing you can isolate her and sit down do some kino, go for the kiss, and depending on how drunk the chick is, you can even take her home. Now when you cannot dance, it's obviously hard to escalate at night clubs. Another crucial reason I wanted to take dance classes is because it's a pussy-fest, hence I could have hooked up with a chick or two. That said, I invested all my money in clothing, so the dance lessons will have to wait.

I learned to dance myself (forro, salsa and bachata). It was a good move but it took a long time to get anywhere proficient. It's hard and I still have to learn and I get frustrated by how demanding it is to dance in front of people who are assessing you, with a girl whose style and ability you have to work out as you go along, whilst trying to give an excellent lead, all the while improvising sometimes complicated and precise moves to the feel of the song bar by bar as it plays. It's easy to do at a basic level - but bloody difficult to dance like some cool Cubano you saw in a video. Do not think you will master dancing in a short time; I've been doing it for years and still see myself as a student. There's always guys in the club who can out dance you and if you go to Cuba or other sources of these dances, you can be intimidated by just how good the locals are.

My two cents are that the Salsa scene here in London is plagued by sleazy, borderline sex predators and other undesirables (noticeably so with Middle Eastern males in the places I have seen). There is a pecking order; women love dancing with the top notch dancers, but don't enjoy dancing with beginners\intermediates. Catch 22. And often the social dynamic feels, well, just awkward, picking up attempts included.

I prefer to use dance for demonstrating value and prefer to take a girl to dance rather than trying to pick up in a salsa setting. Most of all, I enjoy it because of the confidence it has given me and how I have learned simply have fun with it and to have an enjoyable night out dancing, as opposed to sitting in a corner drinking. Give a girl a good night out dancing and she will love it and your stock will go up.

(09-29-2012 01:33 AM)bigxxx Wrote:  

My last LTR was a cuban american girl. I would go home with her for nochebeuna and her and her father would start dancing like this and all I could do is sit there and watch. Watching it in person is very impressive, especially when its someone you know who you have never seen dance like this. Like the above poster I am just looking for some moves, but I dont just want to dance with uncoordinated white girls, if I meet a latina with good dance skills I want to show her a good time and impress her a little bit. This girl was a highly skilled dancer and I have zero dance skills. I thought being a musician was far superior

My father was a dancer, like Christopher Walken back in the day, in the '50's, he was the shit on the dance floor. He still dances at age 80 and looks 25 years younger than he is. I want to live this way.

[/quote]
My last LTR was a cuban american girl. I would go home with her for nochebeuna and her and her father would start dancing like this and all I could do is sit there and watch. Watching it in person is very impressive, especially when its someone you know who you have never seen dance like this. Like the above poster I am just looking for some moves, but I dont just want to dance with uncoordinated white girls, if I meet a latina with good dance skills I want to show her a good time and impress her a little bit. This girl was a highly skilled dancer and I have zero dance skills. I thought being a musician was far superior

My father was a dancer, like Christopher Walken back in the day, in the '50's, he was the shit on the dance floor. He still dances at age 80 and looks 25 years younger than he is. I want to live this way.
[/quote]

@ Puckman: In the below attached thread link, i posted and referred to several other Salsa threads that may help to address some questions about whether to take salsa lessons and potentially the question of what style of salsa you may consider learning.

/thread-27463-...#pid522902

I take it from your responding to the cuban style utube video that you are more inclined towards Cuban style? And, do you know the locations that you would dance b/c some dance places have different styles?

Of course, Cuban style is quite popular in the Florida area, and even can be found quite a bit in NY area; however, if you come to the west coast USA, Cuban style is less prevalent, even though you can still find it in various venues. On the other hand, if you travel internationally, then Cuban style may be more of a niche specialty dance and more difficult to find girls, in some international locations, that would easily follow that style.

What location were you considering applying dance skills?

Edit: BTW, I googled Christopher Walken, and I came up with this utube video regarding his dance style:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZLidy7pIQ8

This video of Walken shows a sort of a free-style of moving with the beat, and having a few cool and innovative personal moves, which, probably, could be incorporated into any dance style, if that's what you are considering?

(09-04-2013 01:20 PM)JayJuanGee Wrote:  What location were you considering applying dance skills?

NYC, FLA, and South America when I finally go. I want to just be able to dance with anyone, not ballroom, but salsa and Latin styles. I would like a good general foundation so if I get into it and really make it a passion, I can find the style I like the most. I want to give it about 6 months of classes/lessons. I think its a fundamental life skill that I never learned at 38, that I need to catch up on, sort of like playing the piano...

(09-04-2013 02:05 PM)puckman Wrote:  

(09-04-2013 01:20 PM)JayJuanGee Wrote:  What location were you considering applying dance skills?

NYC, FLA, and South America when I finally go. I want to just be able to dance with anyone, not ballroom, but salsa and Latin styles. I would like a good general foundation so if I get into it and really make it a passion, I can find the style I like the most. I want to give it about 6 months of classes/lessons. I think its a fundamental life skill that I never learned at 38, that I need to catch up on, sort of like playing the piano...

When I began taking classes, over 11 years ago, I was taking classes mostly from instructors who taught LA Style on 1, b/c I was mostly learning in Southern California, and that was a prevalent style here (and continues to be).

When I first started learning, I would also attend dance-focused events, like salsa camps, congresses, etc. that would provide various classes, and in that regard, I did get some exposure to other variations and styles of salsa, but I mostly concentrated in getting better at LA style on 1. There were a lot of places to take classes and other learning opportunities for that style and accordingly, b/c of my focus and pursuits, I learned from a large number of instructors. For a couple of years, I also would take various classes or attend some kind of learning event 1-3 times a week, and I would regularly practice to the extent that my schedule permitted.

As I began to get more comfortable with incorporating my style as I went along, I took a lot fewer classes as time progressed and I just would practice various things that i learned and to incorporate some variation of making my own whatever it was that i had learned.

Even now, there continues to be opportunities that i can incorporate learning of other styles of dance into my style, to the extent that I am interested in the style; however, i have a pretty good dance base that allows me to dance with a large number of girls in salsa venues, and sometimes, depending on my mood, I may or may not be interested in learning some variations to incorporate into my style... In that regard, some styles are more congruent with my style and easy to incorporate and other styles would take me more time and energy if i were to invest in incorporating such. Actually, sometimes on the dance floor I will begin to execute some dance move that i just made up or it is a variation of something that i had learned previously, and if it flows well and if I like it, it becomes part of my new dance repertoire.

In essence, if you are interested in learning more of Cuban style for example, then you have to figure out a way to incorporate that learning into your schedule - and I would suggest that in the beginning to dedicate at least 2-3 times a week when you are wanting to learn more, rather than maintaining the status quo. I believe that when we are learning, we need to dedicate more time as compared to when we are just maintaining the status quo. In my experience, if I am merely maintaining the status quo, that will still some work b/c if i skip several weeks or even skip a month or more of dancing, it takes me a bit of time to return to my earlier level of smoothness in executing certain moves that had been in my repertoire.

delete

Well, the first rule of the salsa classes is the hottest chicks in the class will get banged by an instructor (happened to me had a girl interested, suddenly fell of the radar to see her hand in hand with an instructor. This would happen every few months. But don't hate the player...

So, if you think you'll have a leverage in salsa classes, I'm going to disappoint you - all the guys try to get some there so it's a level playing field. And the girls love getting extra attention there just as much as they love to dance. However, this can be a good way of expanding a social circle and getting to know girlfriends of girls attending salsa classes.

Stop digressing. Just practice... Like this boy. I predict plenty of pussy for him.

(03-04-2016 08:53 AM)ksbms Wrote:  Well, the first rule of the salsa classes is the hottest chicks in the class will get banged by an instructor (happened to me had a girl interested, suddenly fell of the radar to see her hand in hand with an instructor. This would happen every few months. But don't hate the player...

So, if you think you'll have a leverage in salsa classes, I'm going to disappoint you - all the guys try to get some there so it's a level playing field. And the girls love getting extra attention there just as much as they love to dance. However, this can be a good way of expanding a social circle and getting to know girlfriends of girls attending salsa classes.

I thought so too when I gradually learn to sneak it in the hot girls before the instructor

The trick is to swoop them fast. Hardcore girls or what I call salsluts all become expert cockteasers. If you try to get with a girl at this stage, prepare for a lot of blue balls and frustration.

Guys in salsa forgot that you dont need to be the best dancer, but you need to be the most interesting guy, and you need to know how to make her feel special.

A lot of newbie hot girls feel intimidated when they start, because all the guys just grab her and try to show her how he's the best, while the sorry broad stagger around like a wooden puppet.

This is your only window of swooping it before she becomes hardened slut. Game her well and set up a dance date. From then its textbook.

Being a better dancer always help, but game is a great force equalizer.

The tricky thing is that girls know that salsa guys are just trying to get laid, so you need to work harder to come off as cool.

Perhaps I should rejoin, as it's been a while and brush off my dancing skills. Since I can meet girls anywhere, no pressure to get girls at salsa classes and if I crash and burn there, then, oh well...

(03-04-2016 10:10 AM)ksbms Wrote:  Perhaps I should rejoin, as it's been a while and brush off my dancing skills. Since I can meet girls anywhere, no pressure to get girls at salsa classes and if I crash and burn there, then, oh well...

One thing is for sure, Salsa is great fucking fun and although I've long moved on to Bachata, I still miss the dynamic movements.

Its also a great cardio for your rest days from the gym.

Not if you're looking for women. If you want someone under 30, you might go for a hip hop class.

(03-04-2016 10:35 AM)Dalaran1991 Wrote:  

(03-04-2016 10:10 AM)ksbms Wrote:  Perhaps I should rejoin, as it's been a while and brush off my dancing skills. Since I can meet girls anywhere, no pressure to get girls at salsa classes and if I crash and burn there, then, oh well...

One thing is for sure, Salsa is great fucking fun and although I've long moved on to Bachata, I still miss the dynamic movements.

Its also a great cardio for your rest days from the gym.

I always get a boner with bachata . I wonder what the girls think...

(03-04-2016 09:47 AM)Dalaran1991 Wrote:  Hardcore girls or what I call salsluts all become expert cockteasers. If you try to get with a girl at this stage, prepare for a lot of blue balls and frustration.

What Dalaran writes is absolutely spot on in my experience. I was in Cuba from November to mid January and one day when using the internet in one of the hotels, I ended up in a conversation with a sexy black Cuban girl. It transpired that she was a Salsa teacher at some of the major resorts, she then invited me to her house for private lessons. I considered whether it was a scam or not but but decided to give it a shot. I met her family who were very nice, they would cook me lunch ect... then they would clear off, she would produce a huge box of Salsa music and tutorial videos, then we would have our lesson.

As Dalaran mentions, these expert Salsa dancers are also expert cockteasers, she would kiss, tease, play hard to get, what a dance and I don't just mean the Salsa. Even though I didn't bang her, she was a good teacher and I learned a lot from her playing hard to get.

A funny side note. She had a friend who did everything she could to bang me. She would always appear when I was over there, then would tell me how beautiful I was, would show me porn on her phone and invite me to her house while rubbing my leg. It was a shame she was a 4/10, 5 max.

It was a good few weeks, boxing in the morning, dancing in the afternoons.

(03-04-2016 12:43 PM)ksbms Wrote:  

(03-04-2016 10:35 AM)Dalaran1991 Wrote:  

(03-04-2016 10:10 AM)ksbms Wrote:  Perhaps I should rejoin, as it's been a while and brush off my dancing skills. Since I can meet girls anywhere, no pressure to get girls at salsa classes and if I crash and burn there, then, oh well...

One thing is for sure, Salsa is great fucking fun and although I've long moved on to Bachata, I still miss the dynamic movements.

Its also a great cardio for your rest days from the gym.

I always get a boner with bachata . I wonder what the girls think...

I believe that you have to only show the boner (or rub it against the girl) when you fairly certain that you have the girl in your pocket and you are then moving towards escalating and testing the girl's reactions.

I've been dancing for years, and girls are frequently telling me how guys that they just met are very eager to rub their pole against them when they first meet (on the first or second dance), and because it is so common, I doubt that it is a very good strategy (except after you already have good feedback from the chick that she is into you).

Yes bachata is a very close dance, but you should still be able to dance it without attempting to rub a boner into the chick that will likely get a bit freaked out.

If guys have different experiences with how they demonstrate their boner (or rub it), then I would be interested in hearing that.... I personally believe that if you are having success rubbing you dick against a girl and not causing her to run away, then you already have a lot going for you in the looks category (or something else) and it is not going to work for regular guys... on the other hand, I would be interested in hearing if any guys have success with this boner rubbing strategy in dance (especially in latin dance and with girls that you have just met).

(03-04-2016 10:41 AM)johnbozzz Wrote:  Not if you're looking for women. If you want someone under 30, you might go for a hip hop class.

You are correct that Salsa tends to be a bit older, but it still can be a very good skill to have.. and you could do a few things with it. 1) incorporate hip hop moves into salsa (and other latin dance) and 2) bring chicks from those other venues to the salsa scene on dates

Since this thread is about salsa, we can acknowledge that hip hop may be a better place to meet younger girls and even to play around with younger chicks, but it does not rule out salsa as a good skill that could distinguish you from some of the other guys and even have some salsa places to be able to bounce to with chicks from hip hop clubs (which sometimes will be in close by locations - depending on your city).

(03-04-2016 10:35 AM)Dalaran1991 Wrote:  

(03-04-2016 10:10 AM)ksbms Wrote:  Perhaps I should rejoin, as it's been a while and brush off my dancing skills. Since I can meet girls anywhere, no pressure to get girls at salsa classes and if I crash and burn there, then, oh well...

One thing is for sure, Salsa is great fucking fun and although I've long moved on to Bachata, I still miss the dynamic movements.

Its also a great cardio for your rest days from the gym.

Dalaran - probably you are finding a lot more young chicks in the bachata scene, no?

And, probably, from time to time you can bounce bachata chicks to salsa, and also some of the bachata locations will mix in a bit of salsa, so your salsa skills can still come in handy in those venues.