Tonight I had my first lesson at Vista Ballroom on Assembly Street. Ramon was my teacher, which was really cool because I've danced with him before at clubs and in a group lesson, but never one-on-one. He asked me my background and decided that instead of focusing on ballroom style salsa, like Tracy, he would teach me more his style - club dancing. Like I've said before, Ramon is really into the passion of the dance. He believes that dancing, especially salsa, is an expression of the music. So, if the music changes, like a new instrument is added to the mix, the leader should change up the steps to mirror the music. He is also very into ad-lib dancing. He doesn't believe dancing at a club should be a series of memorized patterns. Rather, it should be whatever organically forms from the two dancers coming together.

It was great to hear and see this different approach. You could tell he kind of just made things up as he went along, which was slightly challenging for me to follow but extremely interesting to look at. He had me turning A LOT, which I'm slightly uncomfortable with because even in ballet I was never much of a turner, but it's good to step out of my comfort zone. Some key aspects Ramon stressed were:

* Put your full weight into your partner's hands. They need to feel gravity in order to show you which way to move.
* RELAX YOUR ARMS. Remember to keep your elbows down, for this shows you are letting gravity take over.
* Never let go of your partner. The man is always the only one to let go.
* Do not anticipate moves. Feel which direction your partner is going in.
* The most important thing to learn is how to follow well with EVERY partner. Some partners keep a solid frame, others are more loose (like Ramon). A good follower can adapt.