To learn salsa, you have to have an open mind and a willing body, for how else can you memorize those tricky steps while trying to be as graceful as possible? Salsa has a spicy history of being a combination of different dance moves from different countries, such as from the Caribbean and Latin countries to North America. It is somewhat a complicated dance. However, just because the dance is difficult does not mean that you can’t go learn salsa and be a dance floor diva. Try these easy-to-remember tips to help you learn salsa in a fun and easy way.

The Position

If you truly want to learn salsa, you must first learn the correct position. Although you can try out the hand-in-hand position, it is best to start off with the dance position for a more sensuous Spanish dancing experience. The position is sexy: while facing each other, the man takes the woman’s right hand using his left hand; he then places his right hand on her left shoulder side. The woman lightly places her left hand over her partner’s right shoulder making contact using her elbow and or her forearm. It is good to remember that you should do this lightly. Do not press too hard but allow your partner to be held stably and softly. Sexy—that’s the way to learn salsa.

The Steps

To learn salsa, you will first be introduced to the basic steps and counting. You’d better memorize this by heart because all the other complicated moves will depend upon your skills with the basic steps. Counting for salsa is different from other dances; again, you should take note of this as you learn salsa. Instead of the usual 1 to 8 counting, salsa on “1” uses 1-2-3-pause-5-6-7-pause. This means that you dance on the numbered steps and pause (or either tap, point or kick) on the pause steps. You will get the hang of it the more you learn salsa. Also, a conga drum beats often at counts 2 and 6. This emphasizes the steps; take note, again, of this beat.

Although you have to do some counting to help you learn salsa, you have to incorporate this in your body movements so that people who will be watching you will not know that you are, in fact, counting the steps. Don’t worry, the more time you spend to learn salsa, the better you will be at counting silently while dancing gracefully. A really good tip: never move your lips in counting. This is actually a problem with new dancers, so the action should be curbed before it becomes a habit.

Always listen to your instructor, so you can learn salsa fast. Men’s and women’s counts are alternating and 4 beats apart. This was designed so that one will not step on the other one’s toes in this fast-paced dance. So hurry up on memorizing those beats, or else, your partner might step on your toes when you miss some beats.

One last tip to help you learn salsa: although allowed, it is considered bad etiquette to travel around the dance floor to occupy other dancer’s spaces, so don’t do it. Instead find more open areas.