By Francisco de La Calleja

It happened again at last week’s group class. I had just finished introducing a new idea and, after asking if there any questions and clearing up a couple of doubts, the group was ready to step into action.

“Take your partner and try that out!” I called to the group and began approaching the nearest couple to see how they were doing.

The moment I was within a foot of them I was hit by a solid whiff of alcoholic breath.

“We just took a little drink,” said the woman as she noticed my questioning mien.

“How come?” I asked, trying to hide the disapproval in my voice.

“We were a bit nervous and it helps us relax.”

By Francisco De La Calleja

Given the fact that teaching salsa and other Latin dances remains largely unregulated around the world, it is natural that beginner students starting their own dance journey, advanced students thinking about a career in dance instruction and even other teachers that see me as their natural competition will ask me how did I become and what qualifies me or anyone else, to be an instructor. this is my story:

I began to dance at age fifteen and I immediately appreciated the benefit dancing brought into my life. After following group classes and being in an amateur dance troupe for two and a half years I asked my instructor about becoming a teacher. She said that becoming a teacher was going to be a long process and that I had to be willing to learn every day. In other words, teachers are not advanced dancers. They are eternal beginners. 

By Francisco De La Calleja

You have decided to share your passion for dance with the world. And if you can earn a living with it, how much better!

You may have noticed that teaching requires very different skills than you apply to dance and show. And it is that not all your students have the same objectives or abilities. Juggling all of this while maintaining the professional image you've built with every dance, competition, or show requires tremendous mental flexibility and dedication. Here are a few more clues that will tell you if you need to hone your teaching, not just your dancing skills:

By Francisco De La Calleja

Congratulations, you are a dance teacher. What could be better than making money sharing your passion? You are a good dancer, a performer or competitor even.  So you wanted to make a living from your dancing or maybe you just wanted others to benefit from your experience.

You may have already noticed that it is not easy to build a student body that will ensure a steady income and that getting and especially keeping students is not as simple as it first appeared. It is perfectly normal to ask yourself if you are doing it right or if there is something amiss in your new career. Here are some clues that indicate that you may need to upgrade your teaching skills:

By Francisco De La Calleja

So, you are a good dancer, have won a few competitions; you perform regularly at shows and congresses so teaching came as the logical thing to do next. Perhaps your friends prompted you into it, or maybe you were inspired by your own instructors. Maybe you wanted the extra cash or maybe you just wanted others to benefit from your experience and share your passion.

You may have already noticed that teaching requires quite different skills from those you apply into dancing and performing. It is perfectly normal to ask yourself if you are doing it right or if there is something amiss in your new career. Here are some clues that indicate that you may need to upgrade your teaching skills:

By Francisco De La Calleja

    Welcome to the Latin dance party. You want to dance, but you are new at this and you do not know anyone beyond a few (mostly female) friends from dance class who invited you to this club, or social. So… how on earth are you going to get all those men to come over here and ask you to dance? And once they do, how do you get them to look beyond your beginner level and ask you to dance again? I asked a lot of guys (who also want to dance) and here is what they suggested:

By Francisco De La Calleja

The beginning of a dancer’s journey is a most exciting moment. It is loaded with aspirations, dreams, promises and good intentions. However, given the type of society we live in, most of us have an ambiguous relationship with the beginner level. The word beginner itself is considered a stigma although there is no logical reason why it should be. Yet, we get past the first lesson and if possible, the first level, as quickly as possible. Sometimes we go through these not questioning what or how or even if we have actually learned something. To go to the next level seems to be the easiest goal to set for ourselves.

By Francisco De La Calleja

         As a dance instructor I have heard many times over the years countless variations of: “You have changed my world!” and “You have changed the way I see my life!” from grateful students that have discovered their passion for dancing through my classes.

         And even though no two students begin taking lessons for the same reasons or with the same motivation and not two students go through the same learning process, their comments after some time all converge towards those two same ideas: Neither life, nor the world seem the same after dance lessons.

By Francisco De La Calleja

    “We are going to try lessons with him, he’s a great dancer and we were told by a friend that he is a very patient teacher...”

    Whenever I hear words like those, whether I know the students or the instructor in question, my very first reflex is to say: “If you want to enjoy dancing and taking lessons, please stay away from patient teachers!”

    This may seem strange, given that patience is a quality that most students would expect from a dance teacher.

By Francisco De la Calleja

    I am often asked by students at the beginning of a class what it takes to become a good dancer. The answer is a very short list: To become a good dancer you need a clear objective, a competent teacher and time.

    People are often surprised by what is not on the list. They expect things like rhythm, coordination, a musical ear, a good partner and such to be essential to a dancer’s success. But what surprises them the most by its absence from the list is the concept of talent. They always ask about it, as if I had somehow overlooked a vital cog in the success machine.

    My answer to that is that in my classes, talent as most people understand it is optional. In fact, I usually add, I personally do not even believe in its existence!

By guest blogger Nikka Jonesy

 I have been taking Salsa, Bachata and Merengue classes with my husband under the guidance of our teacher Francisco for three years now and recently a friend from work asked me if I regret spending so much money on Latin dancing.

    To be honest, up to that point  I had not given much thought to the effect of my Latin dance lifestyle on my budget since neither I nor my little family lack any necessities but the question was fair. So last night, my husband and I sat down with a calculator to work it all out.

By Francisco De La Calleja        

    I am often asked what is the optimal duration of a private lesson, either for a single individual or for a couple.

    There are some instructors who claim that a private lesson of less than two hours is basically a waste of time, effort and money. According to them, at least two hours are needed to supervise the repetition of exercises designed to train the muscle memory necessary to execute whatever new movement is introduced during class.

    These instructors stand in stark contrast with the overwhelming majority of instructors in our industry, who work with the quick and expedient forty-five minute to one hour lesson format. In this case the lesson is quickly over and the teacher is certain to remind the student to go practice before their next lesson. The usually recommended amount of practice is three hours of social dancing or in-front-of-a-mirror drill for every hour of instruction.

By Francisco De La Calleja

    Have you ever heard yourself say “I hate feeling frustrated”? And honestly, who doesn’t? As we journey through the experience of dancing, all of us, students, performers, choreographers, competitors, judges, teachers and even teacher trainers risk feeling frustration.

      Sooner or later you will feel the burn of frustration at the difficulties encountered on the road to your dreams. But here is the catch: Frustration is a good thing. It can develop into positive energy if you understand it. And, no matter if you are at beginner or professional level, you've better learn what it is all about. Because frustration can become full-blown hardship if you misunderstand it. And hardship will zap the joy out of learning, improving and enjoying your dancing.

By Francisco De La Calleja

    I am often asked why I don't teach any dance "boot camps". The fashion these days is for dance instructors to stick the boot camp label on everything they teach, usually followed by one of these tag lines:

Get out of your comfort zone!

No pain, no gain!

Challenge your learning abilities

Have you got what it takes?

Take your dancing to the next level!

    The boot camp expression has obviously become a marketing gimmick. Teachers do this because it sells. And it sells because we live in a competitive society where if something sounds hard and difficult, most people assume it has better value. But sadly, most teachers and students have a cloudy understanding, at best, of what a real boot camp’s purpose is.

By guest blogger Nikka Jonesy

   If you are new (or not so new) to latin dancing, you have taken a few lessons to get an idea of the basic moves and feel ready to venture into the dance floor, here is some advice for you.

    There are a few things you should know, regardless of your technical level of dance, to successfully approach a girl at a Latin dance club or social to ask for a dance and to make such a good impression that she will keep you on her “guys I have to dance with list”.

By Francisco De La Calleja

    It all began quite innocently. Fun loving Canadians vacationing in the Mexico and the Caribbean came back infected with a strange array of tropical viruses. No, not Malaria or Zika but something more insidious: Merengue, Bachata and especially, Salsa. These happy-go-lucky tourists inadvertently served as pathogens and soon they had spread their affliction even to those who had never travelled down south and today we are facing a pandemic. It is called Latin dancing.