Salsa Etiquette

She said “no” – so are you never asking her to dance again?

If she says “no” to you and “yes” to another gentleman a minute later, is this really inappropriate or “lame?” — Grace Badillo

Now that I’m back in the Washington, DC area, I’ve been scouring the internet to get a grasp of the local salsa scene.  The good news is there are enough salsa nights at bars, and dedicated clubs, for me to go out any night of the week.

I recently came across a great column on salsa etiquette I wish I’d read months ago while still in Colombia. It is posted on a blog tied to a new monthly publication, The Scene, that just launched to cover the DC/MD/VA salsa scene.  You can read the whole issue online.  Pretty cool!

The reason I wish I’d read this article from the start is that it would’ve helped eliminate my concerns about women turning me down for a dance.  I lost out on potentially meeting a lot of people and improving faster, because I was too hung up on the “no’s.”  As I got better, I felt more confident asking the women to dance, so it was naturally becoming less of an issue.  Now that I’m back in the US with no language barrier, it is even easier.

I’ll be sharing more about my DC salsa adventures in future posts.