Email: LASalsaKids@aol.com
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I have been guilty of this in the past. But I have been working (training, practicing, etc. ) on improving this aspect of my salsa dancing for quite awhile now. To smile!  And I see that the lack of smiles on the dance floor is a problem that is becoming really noticeable.

Where are the smiles? Why don't people smile when they dance? I am not talking about having a smile pasted to your face like Ronald McDonald. I mean conveying to your partner that you are having fun. You could fake it, I suppose, but then why bother dancing? Many of us have a look on our face as we dance like we are trying to solve the problem of world hunger or we are trying to overcome the pain and sorrow we feel due to the recent break-up of Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake.

I often observe people dancing at events. The majority of the dancers don't smile or convey that they are having fun to their partner. And those who are smiling are usually the street dancers who could care less what style they are dancing or whether they were dancing on 1 or on 2. I see a lot of anxious faces out there on the dance floor. Am I on beat? Am I on 1 or on 2? How many shines can I pack in one song? How many million times will this guy spin me? Will she be able to follow the behind-the-back-reverse-copa-check-triple-spin turn pattern I learned? Will I be able to follow the behind-the-back-reverse-copa-check-triple-spin turn pattern that some guy learned? Where are we headed that salsa dancing is starting to become stressful? If we are having fun, is it difficult to convey it to people?

Am I picking on the beginner salsero or salsera? No! We all know how stressful it can be when you are learning to dance.  I am directing this towards the people who can dance and nonetheless look unhappy, bored, and/or disdainful as they dance.

Let me let some people in on a little secret. People actually like dancing with people who LOOK like they are having fun. We all have gotten stuck dancing with people who are just going through the motions like they are on salary to be at the event and dance salsa. It just isn't that much fun.

I hope the secret of smiling gets out.