What have I gone and done!?

A

AndrewD

Changui
Despite promising myself I’d never perform or enter a competition, this Saturday I will be taking part in a Salsa dance-off at a local club. I won’t bore you with how this happened, but essentially I only found out yesterday and as such I’ll have no practice time with my partner.

I know it’s too late for any substantial help, but apart from smiling a lot – does anyone have any tips?

P.S I guess I’m really only posting for some internet support from my forum friends – wish me luck, I’m already feeling nervous!!!
 
bore us with how it happened!

Tips..? Um, be yourself. Make sure yours partner is feeling good about herself before you start. Dance on your own terms, don't try to match your opponent's spinnyness / musicality / whatever if it puts you outside of your zone. Being in your zone is the only important thing. Onlookers will see that and love it. Look like you're enjoying it. Enjoy it!
 
Good luck! With no preparation you'll be forced to listen to the music rather than trying to shoehorn a prepared routine into whatever music they play so you'll probably look better :)
 
sweavo said:
bore us with how it happened!
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Well…

A very charming, persuasive and persistent lady asked me, I made all kinds of excuses and pathetically even used “my wife won’t let me” as a reason (I can be such a wimp – I hadn’t even asked).

She then insisted on meeting my wife, which forced my hand.

So I told my wife about it all and how I didn’t really want to participate and hoped she’d make the ‘no’ decision for me.
Unfortunately she was far too rational and said “I don’t believe you – you’ve gone all hyper – I can tell by the way you’re talking that you actually DO want to compete – in fact I WANT you to do it”.

I went all giggly and wild eyed and in a moment of temporary insanity sent a text to the lady who’d asked, saying ‘yes’.
 
Remember you are performing for a crowd so do something that will appeal to them. That doesn't mean backflips and aerials necessarily but make sure you do some fun moves whether they are flirty, sexy, silly, whatever. i would say smile because you are enjoying it (ie don't do the bolted-on-ballroom grin).

good luck

p.s. you've probably seen this video but i think this performance by yanek and diana is awesome. Its crowd pleasing and looks like they are having fun. Although yanek does some crazy complex cuban combos :banana:

youtube.com/watch?v=M9yugsVjfnc
 
Hey, don't be nervous (easy to say, I know). You don't have anything to lose, do you? If it is your local club then most people there probably know how good you are. Get a lot of your friends to cheer for you - it will give you a good feeling that people are supporting you and are on your side. And will probably get a smile on your face which will make the dance look more fun.

And if things get wrong (which i know they won't) laugh it off. If you project the right attitude, the audience will be ready to forgive anything and still be on your side. So keep it light, fun, without blind competitiveness and ambition.

And keep us posted how it went. :)
 
AndrewD said:
Unfortunately she was far too rational and said “I don’t believe you – you’ve gone all hyper – I can tell by the way you’re talking that you actually DO want to compete – in fact I WANT you to do it”.

I went all giggly and wild eyed and in a moment of temporary insanity sent a text to the lady who’d asked, saying ‘yes’.
Click to expand...
:lol: Go for it man!!! You love it, so show it! :)
 
AndrewD said:
Well…

A very charming, persuasive and persistent lady asked me, I made all kinds of excuses and pathetically even used “my wife won’t let me” as a reason (I can be such a wimp – I hadn’t even asked).

She then insisted on meeting my wife, which forced my hand.

So I told my wife about it all and how I didn’t really want to participate and hoped she’d make the ‘no’ decision for me.
Unfortunately she was far too rational and said “I don’t believe you – you’ve gone all hyper – I can tell by the way you’re talking that you actually DO want to compete – in fact I WANT you to do it”.

I went all giggly and wild eyed and in a moment of temporary insanity sent a text to the lady who’d asked, saying ‘yes’.
Click to expand...

yeah, you're right. it was boring... KIDDING :P
 
If this kind of thing makes you hyper and giddy, the actual performance, with no practice, might make you more nervous than you expect. Focus on relaxing right before the performance, and try to stay in control of your body.
 
AndrewD said:
I know it’s too late for any substantial help, but apart from smiling a lot – does anyone have any tips?
Click to expand...

Trash talk or psych out the competition, especially the girls...er...of course if you actually want to dance with them again..don't do that. Seriously though tell everyone else that you're just doing this for fun, not to win..you might even talk yourself into believing that.
 
You will feel incredibly self-conscious during the first few seconds
but from then on the crowd sort of disappears and you just do what you always do.

There. You've read it on the Interweb, must be true lol

Seriously, relax, have fun and good luck.
 
I agree with the comments about smiling. Also, you should make some of your movements "bigger" than you might normally do during social dancing. Of course, there's a delicate balance between making movements big enough for the audience to see, yet without losing the quality of your "flow."

In any event, good luck!!!
 
Buy drinks for the other competitors, while you and your partner sip soda water.:twisted:

You can win by being technically brilliant, or by having fun with each other. So if you can't do the former, go for flirty and goofy. The audience, who I imagine mostly know you, will love it.
 
Hi, the strategy about not caring about results and just dancin' for fun works :). I actually won with this attitude an amateur salsa competition a two months back. I went to a club as ussual and I found out that 1/6 of the night the floor will be reserved for a competition. So I enrolled with a friend ... just so we can actually dance (I don't really care if anyone is watching me) :). We didn't do anything special ... just solid cuban dancin', and what do you know ... we won :). That's how I got my free full pass to Prague Salsa festival. So just go and enjoy it. Without any preparation, it is the only think you can actually do :).
 
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