3 steps to quickly boost your rhythm
When I teach other people to express themselves through dance, the most important thing I can do for them as a teacher is to remove the barriers that are stopping them from taking what they feel inside and expressing it outside.
And when it comes to barriers, a weak sense of rhythm is what usually prevents the new and even more advanced dancer from expressing themselves through complex body movements, and sometimes even turn patterns. But everyone has a built in rhythm keeper -your hips.
The fastest way to improve your rhythm in Salsa is to go ‘below the belt’ and make sure you are transferring your weight properly. Let your body keep the rhythm for you.
1. Check yourself.
If you can stop yourself at any time during lower body movement and find that your weight is primarily on one leg with the other slightly bent, that’s a great start! If not, than your rhythm keeper needs tweaking.
2. Begin shifting your weight on every step.
With very few exceptions, every single step should mark a shift of weight from one leg to another. Count. During one set of forward and back steps is your weight shifting 8 times? Count how many times your hips move. If it’s just six, you are missing the shift that happens in the middle before you change directions.
3. Wait until after your weight has shifted completely before you pick the opposite foot off the ground!
This is a biggie with many many consequences including the tendency to dance way faster than the music.
Once you begin shifting the weight from one leg to the other, don’t lift the foot that’s about to step until AFTER the weight shift finishes completely. You must be patient and wait. Very few people do this, and it results in a very fast and stiff walk.
You would be suprised at how people with no rhythm, magically are able to stay on beat once they change how their lower body moves. At a basic level, it’s all in the hips.
Related posts:
- should instructors teach steps before clave and music?
- musicality made simple: responding with your body.
This sounds like great advice for a beginner. Will keep these in mind!
What most people fail to realize is that your walk plays such a profound role on the way you dance and connect with your lead.
In fact, the vast majority of issues that prevent dancers from expressing themselves rhythmically, goes back to how they are shifting their weight.
Always look for the smallest, most overlooked detail. It often triggers just the tipping point you need to get back on track.
E