Tips for newbie - how to get past freedance "move freeze"

S

scooby

Feel free to point me to a thread already going I have missed.

Coming from no dance skills to learning Salsa has been fun (honestly!).

Lessons are great (although it feels not enough focus is on the lead skills) and must be about 9 months now, once a week.

BUT ....

Once it come to free dance, I get the "yips" (golfing term) and cannot think of the next move or any move ... Total brain freeze.... so revert back to "basic" for what seems an eternity or start to miss-time moves I’m ok at ...

Hints / tips / newbie experiences?

Scoobs
 
Hello, welcome to the forum

I can't really give any specifics tips but this is something that will definately improve with experience.

I think the most important thing is to focus on the dance rather than doing a series of moves. I don't think the basic step is something you 'revert' to but the foundation of the whole dance and you just slot in moves where you prefer.

Something that helped me a lot in my first year was having 4-5 small, easy moves (1 or 2 bars length) that I could do once or twice during a dance and I could insert them anywhere at anytime. The bulk of the dance was basic step, these standard moves and I would sprinkle in some more complicated moves when or if I remembered them. This way the pressure of having to remember a whole host of stuff was removed.

I still use these 4-5 moves a lot today. I dont think I could dance without them actually and I dont think I would want to.

Overal though the first year is the hardest, once you get past that then your additionally experience will help with a great many things
 
welcome, scooby!

good post from TheVarangian.

o revert back to "basic" for what seems an eternity or start to miss-time moves I’m ok at ...
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Absolute top tip from me is to calm down. Since you can tell between a well-timed and a mistimed move, you have no reason to ever get off time except for anxiety. So remember that it's better to go around the basic one more time then do the move cleanly.

It's fine as well to talk to partners. If she's also a beginner then you can put her at her ease with a few well-chosen phrases.

All the best followers (even the beginners with the best potential) prefer to be led gently and clearly on time than to be jerked late into a move. By paying attention to well-formed entrance and exit to moves, you can start a virtuous circle where her positive experiences encourage her to relax and in turn she becomes easier to lead and also warms to you and becomes more forgiving :-)
 
You can keep a list of moves (name them) and refer to them as needed between dances. Put the list on your cell phone so you can refer to it between dances. Having said that, TheVarangian, is right. You should keep to simple, easy moves and then use complicated ones when you remember them. Complicated moves are just gravy so get the core basic moves down pat with repetition and focus on musicality.

It's important to start really getting into the music and listening to it all the time. This is very, very important because it allows your brain to start finding the patterns in the music and naturally, over time, you will subconsciously be swaying and moving to the music. Then, even if you are just doing the basic, it is very satisfying when you body is moving inside the music. This concept is hard to explain until you feel it.

If you just lay down a bunch of patterns ontop of the salsa rythme, you'll end up with just a veneer and then you'll need to add more patterns to make the process satisfying. If musicality is born from the beginning then even the basics and just swaying with the music is a very rich experience.

Anyways, this simplify and focus on musicality drum has been beaten to death, but I don't think it can ever be played enough really! Good luck and I'm glad you have started this journey. It really is life changing to come from a non dance background and get hooked into salsa. Cool! :cool:
 
It takes time to build a repetoire of patterns. Things you can do in addition to the above:
-continue to take level 1/2 classes; these are still beneficial even when you get past that level. you'll get lots of basic patterns that are easier to remember and can be used on all girls; once you get the sequence in the class, break it down pattern by pattern and mix and match them with the patterns from the sequences from previous classes; also do this before you get to the club on a particular night.
-youtube; focus on the easy patterns.
-yes, its hard to deal with but girls get bored with just basics. If you really don't know a lot of patterns or forget them easily, its actually ok to repeat them, once or twice. Also throw in lots of CBL with inside and outside turns. If you absolutely have to do basics, you can alternate between open position, closed position, cumbia basics, etc.
-distract the girl by talking, she won't realize that you're not doing any patterns, :P. Seriously, I used to do this and I still do it towards the end of the night and the song is really fast and i'm tired and just about ready to go home.
 
nice vata07. Cool tips. Especially like the talking one. Never thought of that before. Also, going to socials at studios helps. Club scene can be intimidating for beginners.
 
I had the same problem the first times.

To get over it. I completely choreographed my first "freestyle" dances. I made up three 10+ bars random patterns of basic moves and practised them: 5 minutes alone "air leading" alone in my living room every day, and a couple minutes with an actual partner from class twice a week after class (I was taking two classes a week).

As soon as my mind went blank, I conditioned myself to do "serie#1", and if I was OK enough, I would then do maybe a CBL or a single turn or something, then go for "serie #2" and kind of cycle. When I was OK with that, I started adding some random stuff.

It was robotic and I only used the music as a metronome, but it was a cool crutch to get me started dancing socially. And the girls didn't know it was choreographed as I did alternate between my three long patterns.

After a while I was able to properly chain moves as I felt it was good, then listened to the music, not just the beat, and continued improving ...
 
oh yeah... and wait 2 minutes into a song before asking the girl, then you only have to keep her happy for half a song :-)
 
some excellent advice

- love the , come into the dance late idea to remove pressure

- also. prepare the routine

its breaking through that confidence barrier. Its okmin lesson but a couple of exxp followers just stopped dead in front of me when they didnt quite understand my "lead"

I know they should adapt but since then its been "yips"

also the peer pressure to move up level in classes but id rather make sure leads are better .

Maybe conected :)

thanks
 
sweavo said:
oh yeah... and wait 2 minutes into a song before asking the girl, then you only have to keep her happy for half a song :-)
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Be careful and don't delay too long, or she might ask you for another dance, cause this was too short.

If DJ is playing from CDs, computer, you can go to DJ booth and check the remaining time. :)
 
scooby said:
its breaking through that confidence barrier. Its okmin lesson but a couple of exxp followers just stopped dead in front of me when they didnt quite understand my "lead"

I know they should adapt but since then its been "yips"
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I think I going to have to disagree with you on this.
I can understand how it must feel if the lady just stops dead but this really really is the best possible feedback that you can have that your lead is not quite clear enough or timed correctly.

In the classes the ladies will probably do the move being taught because they know what is expected (even if they shouldn't - the ideal follow in a class should follow the lead and not the class move being taught, otherwise the leads will never learn if their lead is working correctly - hopefully your teacher has told the follows this) .

But don't take this badly, try and take this experience as constructive feedback. (hopefully the ladies are still smiling and not rolling their eyes) Try the move again - if it works, bingo! if it doesn't, drop it and take it home to practice ( or find someone to take aside and work out why its not working)

From a follows perspective, we rely on a clear, well timed lead. If the lady is stopping dead it possibly means they are receiving a mixed message and therefore are really not sure what to do. If they receive half a message - they may well adapt and do what they think you are trying to lead.
 
no need to "move up classes"
take your time and work on your lead
it's a bit hard at first but you'll get there
 
I remember the yips days; they were not so long ago for me...

I used to (and still do) use a few short combinations in place of the basic step. I'd have drilled them enough that I could do either one of two quick patterns while racking my brains for something else to try. So then rather than 60% of my dance being the basic step, 60% of it would be these two combos. It's not much of a step up because you're not trying anything new, but it made me feel like less of a newbie.
 
Alcohol helps too. If you focus on musicality and simple moves, you can enjoy drinking. If you are trying for triples and hand tossing this and that, alcohol will hinder things. Alcohol is the canary in the mine. If your dancing can't tolerate a few drinks, you are probably doing it wrong.

Score! :banana:
 
Soplo said:
Alcohol helps too. If you focus on musicality and simple moves, you can enjoy drinking. If you are trying for triples and hand tossing this and that, alcohol will hinder things. Alcohol is the canary in the mine. If your dancing can't tolerate a few drinks, you are probably doing it wrong.

Score! :banana:
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Alcohol doesn't hinder hand tossing part, just the hand catching part :)
 
When you get your brain freeze, you tell the girl you are dancing in a subtle way rsrs

Then, when the girl gives you the wtf look, you tell her you are following advices from salsa experts and point her to the long long thread in this forum ( better have it on your iphone if she asks to see it)


If she still cant understand, talk to yourself out loud so she can hear you : " thats how people do in the core countries" and keep doing basic for two songs and keep repeating " I am grooving, I am grooving"
 
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