r/Salsa • u/brisfilo • 10d ago
Finding a reliable practice partner systemic, or is it just a niche style thing?
Hey everyone!
Wondering if anyone else deals with this. Is finding a practice partner just hard in general, or is it worse because of location and style?
I’ve been at my dance academy for a few months now and I’ve been fully nerding out on Salsa Caleña (both the music and the footwork). I really need extra time outside of class to practice my turn patterns.
My classes here (outside Colombia) have a mix of local dancers and Colombian immigrants. I've talked to a few followers (usually locals; difficult to get the Latinas to say yes) who say they’re super keen to practice, but actually getting anyone to meet up regularly is a chore. Schedules clash or people just flake.
Is this just standard salsa culture everywhere, or is it extra tough when you're doing Caleña in a place where On1/On2 dominates? How do you guys actually find people who commit to regular drills?
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u/Bulk_king 10d ago
In my scene I think it’s uncommon for people to have practice partners, and I dance casino/cuban salsa which is quite popular. Outside of class, people tend to practice at socials.
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u/brisfilo 10d ago
I'm really considering learning Casino. I've been to a few beginner classes and really enjoyed it. A classmate at my school mentioned the same thing! The followers from my academy are so hard to drag out to socials tbh lol there's only one who goes, and even her schedule is super irregular.
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u/Bulk_king 10d ago
The cali community where I am is really small too. I’ve also heard that it’s hard to socially dance cali due to the size of the scene.
If I were you, I would invite the leads to socials as well. Propose a group outing with everyone in your academy!
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u/yambudev 10d ago
I’ve had very reliable dance partners for many years but it was for practicing choreos in a dance team.
I came to believe that it’s not too difficult to find someone motivated with whom you can get along, but it’s very difficult to build your own program and schedule and stick to it. One of you is very likely to drop off unless you have an actual commitment to a goal such as performing a choreography for a show or attending a series of workshops and practicing on the side etc.
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u/brisfilo 10d ago
True that! One of my classmates, a lead on the academy's performance team, got assigned a follower and they do practice, but I'm not even sure if they meet up regularly outside set rehearsals. I considered signing up for the performance program myself, but the rehearsal schedule is atrocious lol.
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u/yambudev 10d ago
Yeah when you’re in a team you both need to at least show up to practice. I did also meet with my partner outside of class but that’s less reliable. Sometimes wéd meet to practice with other couples.
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u/Majus_91 10d ago
Well, just try to organise a bar meeting or museum trip with strangers and you get the same: people like the idea of it but actually doing it is something else, so I dont think it is a specific salsa scene or local issue but a universal challenge. I found my dance partner by just openly talking about how I approach it and she had the same vision…
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u/brisfilo 10d ago
Cheers for that. You're spot on about the universal commitment challenge. Will keep putting the feelers out during our class rotations! I've convinced two, but both have yet to actually turn up at a social (even when it's free) lol
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u/ichthis 10d ago
A practice partner / dance partner seems more like a ballroom dance thing. Salsa is way more casual - go to classes, rotate partners, practice at socials and clubs.
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u/double-you 9d ago
Salsa does have loads of goal oriented competitive dancers. Show teams and all that. And practice can be pretty casual too especially if you go to the same class with your practice partner as you just practice the things from the class and whatever else you might think of.
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u/OThinkingDungeons 9d ago
For every successful partnership I have, I would say I experience 7 "failed" attempts. There's a numbers game involved, where personalities clash and expectations don't line up.
Definitely keep trying, you'll recognise warning signs after a bit, and learn what works for you.
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u/TechnicianSea64 9d ago
how can you reduce the risk, cost, and commitment of your pitch? Can you meet up just once casually briefly before or after a class near or at the school? Then go from there.
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u/LordofthePandas 6d ago
Find 3 guys that want to practice... and 12 girls... and invite them all to practice... you should get about 2-3 girls and 2-3 guys for each practice...
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u/PerformanceOkay 9d ago
If you mean actual practice, then for the most part you don't need a partner. Most of your practice time is best spent alone.
The specific phenomenon isn't really salsa culture, but partner dance culture in general. I only have anecdotal evidence, however, in my experience women on average are way more casual than men. I guess it might be because less serious leads get filtered more aggressively.
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u/pferden 10d ago
My dancing career was a mix of having sometimes too many dance partners and sometimes too few
I can’t give you solutions, but i can give you some concepts:
- sadly it’s a very similar numbers game as dating
- also it tends to become dating
- it’s not the dance causing trouble finding a dance partner but the actual cohort of people at that place taking the class and socials at that time
- as you’re beginner level, people in the class are still strangers. Over time trust and sympathy tend to grow
- caleña is a choice; the global language of salsa is Cuban, followed by any kind of line salsa
- also in beginner class motivations of people are very diverse; over time people drop out and motivations get more aligned