{"id":13779,"date":"2014-03-06T11:12:41","date_gmt":"2014-03-06T16:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/?p=13779"},"modified":"2016-03-31T12:42:41","modified_gmt":"2016-03-31T17:42:41","slug":"salsa-in-colombia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2014\/03\/salsa-in-colombia\/","title":{"rendered":"Dancing Salsa in Colombia: Top Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Colombia, as I think we&#8217;ve mentioned, is <strong>a captivating country to travel in, and the people&#8217;s warmth and zest for life is part of the magic<\/strong>. However, prospective travellers be warned: Colombians love to dance&#8230;so much so that, deep breath, they&#8217;ll expect you to dance as well! And by dance, I don&#8217;t just mean the classic gringo knee-bend and head-nod, I mean full-on, hip-shaking, foot-moving salsa. Scary, right? Luckily though, <strong>See Colombia hasn&#8217;t just got you covered when it comes to sailing through the jungle, climbing a mountain, or lazing on the beach; we&#8217;ve got your back on the dancefloor as well.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10355\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10355\" style=\"width: 477px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/10\/why-i-love-colombia-a-farewell-letter-by-paul\/296056_10150331824352547_603816367_n\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10355\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10355\" src=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/296056_10150331824352547_603816367_n.jpg\" alt=\"Paul dance Cumbia\" width=\"477\" height=\"498\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/296056_10150331824352547_603816367_n.jpg 477w, https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/296056_10150331824352547_603816367_n-287x300.jpg 287w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 477px) 100vw, 477px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10355\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Want to look this good on the dancefloor? See Colombia has you covered&#8230;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So, without further ado, allow me to proudly present See Colombia Travel&#8217;s top tips for dancing salsa (although, obviously this doesn&#8217;t involve teaching you the actual dance moves. What am I, a dance instructor?!).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tip 1: Pick the right partner<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This can be a tricky manoeuvre. Whilst <strong>Colombians love a good boogie, and will happily take a few turns with a foreigner<\/strong>, they like to dance with someone at a decent level. Take my friend Dave for instance, who, despite being a pretty good mover by English standards, managed, in Barranquilla last year, to leave two separate girls limping and clutching suspected broken toes&#8230;on the same night! Don&#8217;t run before you can walk. So, you see that girl twirling and shimmying like her life depends on it? Not her&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tip 2: Eye contact?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve always struggled with this one; it&#8217;s like staring at yourself in the mirror during a haircut: too much is creepy, not enough makes you look evasive or disinterested. Do what I do: try and smile, look your partner in the eye, and <strong>occasionally glance down at your feet to check that you&#8217;re remembering to actually move them&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Tip 3: Physical contact&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s time to get over that awkward aversion to physical contact right now, because if you&#8217;re dancing in Colombia, believe me, there will be plenty! <strong>Salsa is a sensual dance (don&#8217;t even get me started on reggaeton)<\/strong>, so prepare to be pretty close to your partner. By English dancing standards, so close that you&#8217;re basically moving in together to a small cottage and raising a family. Try not to be too awkward, it&#8217;ll make your partner uncomfortable. <strong>Embrace it, it&#8217;s part of the fun.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13782\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13782\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2014\/03\/salsa-in-colombia\/gringos-salsa\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-13782\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13782\" src=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Gringos-Salsa.jpg\" alt=\"Gringos Salsa\" width=\"800\" height=\"531\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Gringos-Salsa.jpg 800w, https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Gringos-Salsa-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13782\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">None of these guys are following Tip 2&#8230;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Basically,<strong> the key is to enjoy yourself.<\/strong> So the final tip is: ignore these tips! Sure, give them a read for some advice, but don&#8217;t spend your whole evening running through them in your head like I&#8217;m some kind of pseudo Marc Anthony salsa spirit guide. Loosen up and enjoy the experience: <strong>dancing salsa in a club in Cali, or on the street in Barranquilla, is a unique part of any Colombian travel experience.<\/strong> So don&#8217;t let your two left feet, or complete lack of natural rhythm be a hindrance: get a smile of your face and have a go. You&#8217;ll learn fast enough, and, if you don&#8217;t, who cares, <strong>you&#8217;re dancing in Colombia surrounded by great people having the time of your life.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>P.S. See Colombia Travel will not be held responsible for any broken toes sustained whilst following these tips. Like I said: take a dance class!<\/p>\n<p>Chris<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Colombia, as I think we&#8217;ve mentioned, is a captivating country to travel in, and the people&#8217;s warmth and zest for life is part of the magic. However, prospective travellers be warned: Colombians love to dance&#8230;so much so that, deep breath, they&#8217;ll expect you to dance as well! And by dance, I don&#8217;t just mean [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":13784,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[626,76,1],"tags":[2735,58,200,1276],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v18.4 (Yoast SEO v18.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Dancing Salsa in Colombia: Top Tips - Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2014\/03\/salsa-in-colombia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dancing Salsa in Colombia: Top Tips\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; Colombia, as I think we&#8217;ve mentioned, is a captivating country to travel in, and the people&#8217;s warmth and zest for life is part of the magic. 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