Salsa

[Sheikh al-Majaneen]

So, last night I went to a salsa workshop + social. As a complete salsa dancing noob. Stepping way out of my comfort zone. It was pretty awkward of course (I don't really have the time or confidence to dance, but I do have a decent sense of rhythm, enough so that being expected to go slower than the song threw me way off most of the time) but fun too; I got a contact who teaches people to dance (I'm too busy right now to go to any classes when they meet, and I want to start this before I forget about it), and I'd like to make this a hobby. Does anyone here do it? Any suggestions for me going in? General questions/comments/snide remarks?

[JudeMorrigan]

I do have a decent sense of rhythm, enough so that being expected to go slower than the song threw me way off most of the time

I'm a bit confused as to what you mean by this. Sure, you're not stepping on every beat (at least not for anything you'd be doing as a newbie), but the timing of the steps should still very much be defined by song you're dancing to.

[Sheikh al-Majaneen]

People slowed down for me because I was new to it. And the results were not proportional to the tempo of the song.

[ConMan]

Salsa is the one dance style I've done where there seemed to be a massive disconnect between the tempo of the song and the speed I was meant to dance at, and to this day I'm not sure how much of this was due to the song, or the teacher, or me not understanding which beat I was meant to be dancing to.

[JudeMorrigan]

People slowed down for me because I was new to it. And the results were not proportional to the tempo of the song.

Ah, well, that's just weird. If I were dancing with you (I wouldn't, I assume you're a guy and I'm a really incompetent follow), I'd take a few measures to make sure you had the basic rhythm down (2-3-4(hold 1) or 1-2-3(hold 4) depending on the flavor of salsa you're learning) and then go.