5. TEACHER, SOCIAL DANCER, PERFORMER

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Welcome to Episode 5 of the Salsa Kings LIVE podcast!

In this episode, Andres, talks about the different ways that a dancer can represent themselves through their dancing. Andres places them in three categories: The Teacher, the Social Dancer, and The Performer. There are a number of differences in how these dancers work, and the core difference and reason for these dancers is the question of who these people are dancing for.

There first, the teacher, is one that is able to take out their personality and style to better explain and teach the details of the dance to their students, so that they can better learn from it. This can be difficult for dancers, who by nature like to show their skill and style, but it is a needed skill to teach others. Style is important to inspire and present to students, but to teach them, it’s best to show a solid, clinical approach to the dance. The best teachers actually seem like they lack flair or imagination.

The next type of dancer is the social dancer. A person might be a teacher with very boxy dancing in the classroom, but when they go out to the dance floor, they can become a social dancer. While the teacher dances for their students, the social dancer dances for the enjoyment of themselves and their partner. It’s also a good place to see where a dancer is with their craft, as well as for a dancer to practice their ability to socially connect.

The final form is the performer. A teacher will dance for students, a social dancer will dance for themselves, and a performer dances to engage an audience. This time, it is more to invoke emotions in the audience. Performers will often engage in showmanship, all the better to invoke the emotions they want to convey.

The important thing to remember is not to judge these same dancers the same way. You are expecting different things from each of these types of dancers, and the same person can be a different dancer in different scenarios.

“If you want to social dance, search inside. If you want to teach, you want to keep in mind your students and make it as easily digestible for them as possible. If you are performing, you are always taking into consideration your audience, and making sure that they are as entertained as possible.”