I'll start.

First of all, I rarely give this advice in it's generic form, because I consider it about as helpful as telling someone who struggles with a pull up to "pull harder", instead I'm always trying to be very specific. ​​​​​

Then, there are usually tiers:

• Absolute beginners, get told to forget ​​​​​​​all the hip moves and just walk around to the music. The goal is to dance from one side of the room to the other, while keeping track of the bear, but also while breaking the step-step-step-tap pattern again and again.
• Next level is posture - do the former ​​​​​while not looking down, film yourself until happy. ​​​​
• Next level is usually hip movement and the merengue basic. I make them focus on their weight distribution, hip position, and timing, all while being on the spot, until this is second nature, and the left-right basic can be styled with hip movements /light ​shoulders ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​.
• After that it's general body awareness - first step is usually on the spot waves and chest control. That means learning to isolate the chest as the most important element.
• If they can do all that, i usually just recommend hip hop, house, or commercial dance classes, so that ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​people can actually learn more complex patterns of body movement. ​​​​​​​​​

U.K. based, can’t speak for London as I don’t go there yet for dancing, but where I live in England there used to be a booming scene, new faces constantly, new people starting out, parties used to be full to the brim and people would come here from all around the U.K., and now it’s a complete 180.

Most parties struggle in my eyes. The bulk is made up of devoted students or former students of said school, and even then the numbers have dropped significantly - prior to this, it was actually a challenge to move through the dance floor at times, now it’s a breeze.

I’ve started dancing after covid, and I hear from a lot of people that the scene still has not recovered, and it has definitely changed.

It sucks to see, as I really miss seeing the new faces and it being a push out of my comfort zone, which I know is a separate topic, but now attending lessons and the parties is nothing ‘special’ for the most part.

Admittedly I’ve not done much salsa, have done few lessons here and there this year, but I haven’t explored much into the other dance scenes.

Thoughts?

I’m a beginner to bachata and dancing in general. I’ve been to a few social dances, learned some stuff, and have a general idea of how things work, but I definitely need structured instruction. I found a 4 week beginner class that starts tomorrow. It’s one class per week for four weeks, and the total cost is $100.

Any recommendations? I’ve attended BSWC and BCN Sensual Family weekend in March this year, most likely going to Bachaturo as well, however I’m wondering if there’s anything else that I’m missing out on.

Also, how do you make the most of your festivals? I realised that I need to do more of the social even during the day, as that’ll brush off any rustiness and prepare me for dancing socially, as usually my first social night is the ‘worst’ as a lead, however, I’ve improved a lot this year so I know it’s gonna be wayyy better this time around.

Any advice?