It is indeed time to discuss this elusive ingredient that makes our dances unique. We touched on this topic briefly in the previous article - "Mind vs Body", and now we shall delve into more detail.
The inner dancer is an essence within ourselves that brings our personalities into the dance by allowing our bodies to feel and express the emotions we experience. It transforms you into a dancer that possesses something that is often referred to as flair, flavour, style, or sabor - a singularity that separates you from the rest and puts you into your own category.
Flavour and Style
Being well versed in patterns, styling moves, or footwork does not equal to having flavour. If that was the case, dancers would not seek it so vigorously. Likewise, just because somebody learned dancing on the street does not mean they have any flavour either. Nor would I say a person who has been listening to salsa all their life has flavour. Nor do they have it "in their blood" just because they come from a Latin country. I have met people from all over the world who have never taken a class, dance salsa for years, and could not look more lifeless.
There is a credence that personal style comes with knowledge and years of experience. A belief that a set of rules must be followed before the flavour develops. That belief, however, is but a limit we place upon ourselves. As you start your journey, you will come to realise that most advanced dancers only have the style they were taught in a class. Outside of that, very few have their own flair. After years of training, those who find this flair fool themselves into thinking they could discover their style because of gained knowledge. In fact, that was not the source of it, but rather their ability to allow themselves to submerge in the song and bring out that flair from within. If you can break out of what you are taught and find yourself on the dancefloor, you will have flair. However, if you rely only on classes to discover it, you will find precisely what other people have found - imitation.
Teaching and Learning
So how do we invoke and get in touch with this inner dancer of ours? Can dance instructors help with that? Teach you how to move the body not like they would, but like you, yourself, would. We are taught patterns, steps, style, yet many move the same. The good old "guess the school" game. Have you ever been asked after a dance: "Are you this teacher's student?" A deserved credit to the instructor, but a questionable feeling inside when this occurs. This happens to dancers when they are never taught to let loose and move their bodies as their inner selves would. Not like me, or him, or her, but you. We can spend the rest of our lives dancing, and we will remain flavourless if we never get in touch with our inner dancers. We will inevitably dance from the head, and the head is all about limits, correctness, and rationale.
Is it beneficial to teach people how to run when walking is still a struggle? Perhaps a portion of the class should be dedicated to getting to know our inner dancers. Making students understand what a clutch, brake, and gearbox is before letting them drive. Maybe these dancers would not be as prominent with footwork or patterns as quickly. However, they would be moving to the music as the music calls for. With personal styles, which they developed from their inner selves, looking different doing the same movements and dancing to the same songs. How would their leading or following be? Just going to a school and learning steps does not equal a good lead or a great follower. That comes from experience by also attending frequent socials. With experience, these people will be as good as the next. We are not machines; we are all different, so should we not display our true selves on the dancefloor?
Dancing is about art, and in salsa, that means self-expression, which is only limited to being on beat. Outside of that, it is how well we manage to contact our inner dancers. Then, and only then, we will have our own flavour. When thinking of flavour, do not think of thousands of extraordinary painters, but rather Picasso, Van Gogh, Leonardo Da Vinci, etc. Think of Einstein's lack of formal advanced education and not using it to limit what he discovered. Think of those people who took what they knew and became more than they were taught.
The only time you should not be concerned about flair is when you are trying to learn a new technique. After that, if you have the flair, there need not be a person in the world to teach you style because it will be bypassed straight into your own way. Taught style leads us to move like someone else does - be free!
Imagine grabbing a piece of paper, a pen, and doing anything you want to. Some will be limited to writing and figures; others will create art, and art is nothing but the ability to express what is hidden to the outside world.
Mindset
It is paramount to discover what salsa is about for you to awaken your inner dancer. For me, salsa is most simple - it is about passion and love. About making each other know that you two are one even when you are apart. Not by control, but by movement, call and response, and catering to each other's needs. Salsa is not about girls or guys, and it is not about patterns or moves. It is not about partying, and it is not stepping. It is about love, a lifestyle where salsa is your world and your partner the subject of all interactions within that world. That is where the flavour comes in.
I want to see your true self out there. Not a short version of your teacher. I want to see you. I do not want to see how many moves you can pull off in a three-minute song. Nor do I want to see how many lucky nights you get at a festival. I do not want to see how much you know or who is looking at you. I want to see you and your partner. I want to see you two become one and display the love dancers share as it makes you display it. It is a lifestyle and nothing less.
It may be difficult to connect to such a level with every person in every dance to share this passion and love. However, love is abundant, and you can feel love in every interaction. People will naturally open up to you if you are willing to be open to them. Love is not a limited resource; it is about sharing moments, interactions, and experiences and all feeling good from it. The more comfortable you become with allowing those moments, interactions, and experiences to happen, the more loved you will become and the more loved you will feel.
Not just in your dance but altogether.
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