Quote: (08-16-2014 04:13 PM)blacknwhitespade Wrote:
JayJuanGee,
Man, I used to live in Los Angeles, I always thought Rockabilly/Swing was more popular out there!!
I have been in the LA area for almost 14 years, and I do NOT deny that there may be some other kinds of really popular dance scenes in LA area and I have heard people talk about some of the other dance scenes - but I have NOT become interested in participating in or figuring out the logistics for such other dance scenes - at least, NOT so far in my time here.
LA has a very big salsa dance scene (I mean there is even LA Style salsa, referred to in many salsa circles around the world).
Quote: (08-16-2014 04:13 PM)blacknwhitespade Wrote:
I live in Chicago now. Just moved here a month ago for work. Salsa seems quite popular here, big and fairly diverse Latin population in Chicago and some of these girls are too hot to resist! My cousins are into it, a cute girl I had a date with just the other night is into it, I sense it could be a gold mine.
I was in Chicago for about one week in Fall of 2010, and i checked out several dance venues in the downtown area at that time. Funny thing was that I recognized some of the people from other dance venues....
You may be correct that there is a lot of potential in Chicago for salsa - especially, since it is a very large city. However, personally, I would NOT get caught up into thinking that salsa is largely propagated by the latin community - even though that may be true in Chicago and even in other cities.
I have found that some salsa venues are heavily attended and influenced by latinos - and other venues are more mixed. I tend to appreciate and enjoy myself in the mixed venues much more... possibly given the fact that i am caucasian.
I can probably mostly discuss my own perspective in terms of my own experiences - and what I have witnessed over the years, and I have noticed that some of the experiences of guys of other races can be different, depending on the venue....
Without getting too caught up in racial aspects, I have found a large variety of racial make-ups in the salsa scene, and sometimes the race and the make up of the patrons in that venue does seem to affect how guys may game girls differently because of these dynamics....or even how a guy may be perceived by girls differently based on the make-up of the venue and the guy's perceived fit or lack of fit therein.
Quote: (08-16-2014 04:13 PM)blacknwhitespade Wrote:
One problem is I think the most popular Salsa/Latin studios and clubs are downtown, and unfortunately I work daily M/F in the suburbs, which can be a good 1 or 2 hours commute through the heavy Chicago traffic (L.A. doesn't hold the patent on that after all!) on a weekday afternoon into downtown. I've just started researching and found one Salsa studio in the city that offers lessons late into the evenings on weekdays and Saturday morning/afternoons.
potentially, there may be more venues for both dancing and lessons than you think and you can learn more and more about these various venues by networking in the dance community, once you are more involved.. or as you begin to get more involved.
Quote: (08-16-2014 04:13 PM)blacknwhitespade Wrote:
Sounds like it's a younger (20s/30s) crowd that goes there from the reviews. I'm guessing it's better to go in the evening, so if you make friends you can bounce from the studio to a club??
Yes, I agree that you can bounce between studios... and that reminds me that sometimes, you may want to be a little coy about how many dance lessons that you are taking.. and that also may be one of the advantages to rotating through a variety of venues... because sometimes the goal in dancing is to inspire confidence in the girl .. .similar to game, that you know what you are doing and that you will lead her and that you will NOT embarrass her on the dance floor. I mean sometimes the Colombo fumbling and bumbling may work too, but probably NOT as well as her feeling comfortable dancing with you... some girls seem to be more self-conscious about these kinds of things regarding what other people may think than other girls (especially latinas, in my experience), and you can sometimes feel this out with the girl when you meet her or as you are dancing with her to be able to recognize if she seems to be comfortable or if she keeps looking at her friends to see if they are watching.. or other signals.
Quote: (08-16-2014 04:13 PM)blacknwhitespade Wrote:
I'm in my early 30s, fairly new to Game, and totally new to dancing. I'm a musician (guitar, violin, ukulele) and have played in bands, so I have a natural sense of rhythm/music, this is definitely a genuine hobby I want to pick up (I'm not just crassly trying to troll women here) that I'm hoping will also involve making cool new friends and meeting women of my taste. I've been told that I'm a good-looking guy, dark hair, 5'9" with a trim/lean build that makes me appear taller (most people guess me closer to 6'), been lifting weights for a few years and learning to dress sharp and have good posture.
As I mentioned, your race may also have some effect, and believe it or NOT, there are some string instruments in salsa - depending upon the band - of course brass section and drums are also a big deal in salsa music, but there may be ways to work the live venues and to network, too. LA has all kinds of live venues and super AMAZING latin musicians.
I think that guys develop some of their own dance styles, and I tend to be fairly strict in my dancing on the 1 (except in cha cha cha, I prefer to dance on the 2, but i will also dance on the 1), but in social dancing, I see guys all over the place in terms of their style, or lack thereof (in my assessment).
In the beginning, you can learn from almost anyone;however, as you develop some of your own style, you may become more picky regarding how you learn and what you are willing to learn. So in that regard, in the beginning, that may be another reason to check out a variety of venues for learning.. and you may find some instructors to be more conducive to your learning style.. some are arrogant jerks (and maybe even kids who don't know what they don't know) and others may be too old and boring for you or their style may not gel with or sometimes you will realize that they are teaching bad techniques... but my point is that in the beginning it may NOT matter too much... but just to get started and to experiment and have fun with it.
Quote: (08-16-2014 04:13 PM)blacknwhitespade Wrote:
I was thinking of signing up for a month of lessons (once a week) on a week night and see what happens. Maybe I could talk my cousins into coming out with me sometime, they are married with kids now, but are in the area. What do you think?
You can mix up solo and group, and you will meet people too, but if you do NOT mind rolling solo from time to time, that may give you more flexibility to explore, even though sometimes it may be good to have some people around that you know in order to build comfort or even to have duel or to fulfill multiple purposes.
You may also want to consider searching through RVF for other salsa related threads.. just search salsa or search dance. Even looking through some of my earlier posts (from last year), you will see that I chimed in on quite a few salsa related threads (NOT sure if my thoughts have evolved since making those earlier posts, but you will see that we have a few other RVFers who incorporate dance into their game in various ways.. which styles may differ and goals and objectives may differ, too... hehehehe).
Look forward to hearing more about how these matters unravel for you... even if you wait for some time between posts, you could come back to this thread and provide some updates about how some of the dancing and/or gaming matters are working out...