Humans have been dancing in one form or another for a very long time: ritualistic dances, celebratory dances, dances to seduce a partner, and many other reasons. Dance can be many things. 

This is an excerpt from one of my books - "The Secrets of Social Dance - How to Become a Popular Dancer" which you can find on Amazon.

Sometimes we see dance on a stage. Sometimes we can see it on TV or on the web. Sometimes we see a dancer in the street trying to make money. These examples are all performative in a way. They are made to be seen or made to make money. 

Social dance is different. We social dance only to enjoy the moment. We don't dance to show it for someone else. We dance for ourselves and our partner. We do it to relax and enjoy the journey we are on together. We do it to express ourselves to the music and to connect with our partner. To be truly present.

And with it comes a lot of benefits, which we will cover soon. 

Social dancing is...

Yeah, there it is. I said it - dance with beginners! Why? Because you will become better. Of course, if we dance reasonably often, we will become better over time no matter what, and no matter if we dance kizomba, salsa, bachata or something else. Soon I will come back to why we should dance with beginners, but first something about why people don't want to dance with beginners. 

This is an excerpt from one of my books - "The Secrets of Social Dance - How to Become a Popular Dancer" which you can find on Amazon.

We all have a start. We are all beginners at some time, and beginners are often not as popular on the dance floor, for some different reasons.

• They don't yet have the dance skills
• They are not good at adapting to their partner
• They don't have floor craft
• They don't know how to create connection
• They don't have much of "dance smarts."
• They are often not very creative
• They don't have the musicality

These are all things that can take time to develop.

But...

I am glad to have you here! In this blog I will talk about five different reasons a follow can be out of balance when dancing kizomba, salsa, bachata or any other partner dance and how to fix it. So, make sure you read to the end!

Feet are too far apart in taps
When you tap and you place your feet too wide, you will have some weight on both feet. When you have weight on both feet it means none of them is free to move. And, as soon as you get the signal to move, you will have to put weight on your partner to be able to take that step.

Or you will need to first transfer it 100 % to the other foot to be able to move. And if you do this you will become slow. 

So, always tap with feet together. In general, try to collect your feet under your body as much as possible.

Not walking on a line
When I say walking on a line, I actually mean walking just outside that line.

The inside of the feet are touching on that imagined line. Walking like this moving forward you are in balance...

People often tell me that my dancing feels like “flying” or that it looks very soft and fluid. And it might be true.

No matter if I have danced salsa, bachata or kizomba I have always tried to dance in a soft and fluid way, especially if the music tells me to. So, here I will tell you some of my top tips to get more flow in your dance.

Ok, so let’s get to it! How do you get more flow in your kizomba dance and move more softly?

1. First of all - Your step - front of the foot first
The way you step makes a huge difference. If you want to have flow and softness in your dance you need to step with the front of your foot first. Have you ever seen a trained, professional dancer stepping with the heel first? Someone who has danced ballet, jazz or contemporary? No, they are trained to step with the front of the foot first. Why? Because the front of the foot makes for a softer step. It gives you much more control - if you transfer the weight or not, how much you transfer, if...

It might seem frightening at first, the social dance scene. There is so much to learn. So many things we need to know. There are so many great dancers. How can we ever get that good?

And if we are not that good, there seems to be a high potential for rejection. At least we might think so in the beginning. What if no one will invite me? What if I get a “no” when I invite?

There are some things that are important to remember though:

Firstly, it is a lot to learn, yes. But it is not that hard to become popular. Because it is not always the best dancer who is the most popular on the dance floor. There is hope, even for a beginner or mediocre dancers. The best dancers can be very popular, but it is not all that matters. 

Rule number one to become more popular on the dance floor is to make your partner happy (I guess this applies to life just as much as dance). What your partner remembers are not specific steps or moves, it is how you make them feel. If you...