Social skills are very important for success anywhere…not only for success but also to enjoy life! There are many ways you can build social skills. If you are an extrovert person by nature, you are good to go, but if you are an introvert then you have hard time talking to people. Sometimes, being extrovert does not help, you need a skill and need confidence.
Salsa Dancing :
Salsa Dancing is very popular in US. Latin music is very popular for dancing. There are many kinds of Latin music. Of all the Latin music types, Salsa, Merengue, and Bachata are very popular. I do not want to give you all history lesson of these; the main difference among all these music types is the number of beats in the music. As the beats are different, the dance is different, so are the names and rhythm. Most of the girls are very excited to learn and do salsa dancing. It is some much fun to dance…can be very addictive too…
What difference does it make ?
Well, to be honest many people do not know very well how to dance. Everyone has some hidden urge inside them to dance, but it does not happen… If you learn how to dance, it makes you unique. It is a very good socializing skill.
Lets say, you are new to the area and go to a latin dance club by yourself as you do not have any friends. If you know how to dance, you can walk up to a girl and ask
“Would you like to dance ?”.
If the girl knows, she would say, “Yes”.
If not, she might say, “I do not know how to dance”.
If you know how to dance you can say, “I can teach you, would you mind giving a try ?”
Of course, most of the girls will say “Yes” here. Because, you walked up to a girl and asked boldly to dance with her. Sometimes, you may get a straight NO. But, do not be disappointed. Because, we are not celebrities to be accepted by everyone to dance with. If you try ten people, you will get yes for at least five. Trust me !
Anyways, coming back to point. If you do not know how to dance, how can you go to someone and ask to dance with them ? So, first couple weeks spend time learning dance.
How to build Friends Circle with your Skill?
You will not be able to build a friends circle right away. First week or two you go and dance with people and get familiar. Once you become regular, then you understand the dynamics of the crowd and know who would be good for friendship. One good way is to ask them “I am new to the area and am looking to know about city, would you be able to meet up sometime for coffee or lunch ?”. You have to be very careful when asking, you do not want to give any wrong impression, just ask politely.
Is it hard to learn Salsa dancing ?
No, it is not. It is just matter of practice! It sounds a bit complicated at the first time. It is easy. I never knew how to even do a move when I was back in India. When I started, I was the most terrible guy in the class. It took some time, but picked up very easily. Merengue is very easy to dance and so is Bachata.
How to learn Salsa for Free?
You will not believe this, the fact is Salsa Basics are free in every city. What actually happens is, the clubs typically on one night of the week will have Free Lesson. You just have to go to those and start learning for free. Once you get a feel of it, you can pick it up. You can ask someone in your class or put an ad for dance partner in Craigslist and find someone with same spirit and learn for free. Believe me, if there is a will, there is a way and you can learn for free. You do not even need money… There are many websites with free lessons for instance Addicted to Salsa is a good website. There are many on YouTube too.
If you are a student at University, it is free
There are many organizations in Universities and join the organizations of Latinos and you can network to find the stuff you need to learn for free. Also, there will be programs around campus with free dance lessons all the time. You just have to show up and you will learn. You will meet other students and get to know them. It is very good way of networking in School. Trust me once you know how to dance, whenever there is a dance party, you will be in demand…
Overall, what I am trying to say is: Try to distinguish yourself with others by having a skill like salsa dancing. Girls like guys who dance, you get to meet new people and make good friends. Not only girls, you can meet good guys with the same passion and make friends with them too. You will not believe how many friends I have made just by learning to dance and going out for dancing. It is so much fun to know people at a dance club when you go out to dance. Also, it is a good cardio exercise and good for health too
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Good article! Actually, I have passion about dancing and wanna learn some of them, maybe I will learn Salsa first, hahaha
Wow…That’s amazing…I am planning to come for fall 2010..and during my colleges days, I was in college dance group..I am okay okay dancer.But i am not good in salsa.I am conversant with all styles of hip hop dance…Hope this will help me out in building good networks and friends.I just want to know can we take participate in college dance team in US universities from 1st semester???
Does it create good impression on employer when I’ll sit in career fairs for jobs???
Yes, you can. All you have to do is find the student org that is related to dance or cultural and join their team. Check this article : What are student Orgs in US universities to get an understanding
Well, it depends. Dance is a social related activity and more personal and not tied to professional. They may not give much importance. If you were the president or in the executive board of a Dance related Student Org, it Makes good impression because it demonstrates your leadership skills.
You just have to be willing to try something new and work hard…you won’t be a dancing guru over night, you have to be willing to practice a lot, but it will pay off in the end…just go out and have fun (you’ll be glad you did) !