UKSALSA CHAT | ON2 CHAT | SUZYQ CHAT 
Subject: How do I get women to dance?
From: Pres (Preston Palon)
Date: Monday 9th September 2002, 11:44 am

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I've been to a club in Leicester Square on a Saturday and a club in Charing Cross Road on a Monday. Don't know the names, but maybe someone knows what I'l talking about.
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Argh! Argh! You have been to the worst possible places! The Leicester Square one is Salsa Palladium. A nice club, but the most difficult place to get dances that I know. The one at Charing Cross Road is Bar Salsa. Many genuine Latinos go there. They go there in groups and often only dance with their friends. Also, because of the location it attracts random passers-by, and that also makes things more difficult.

Ian already mentioned SOS, which is a friendly place with emphasis on dancing. However, you don't automatically get a "yes" there either. Number one reason for rejections in SOS is that it attracts quite a few really good dancers. Quite understandably, many of them mainly want to dance with other really good dancers, and they know who the other ones are...

In my opinion your best strategy in SOS would be to go there early, do the class, and then ask the women who did the same class immediately afterwards. Women there are more likely to say no if 1a: they have never seen you before, 1b: they have never seen you dancing, 1c: they saw you dancing and your partner wasn't enjoying it, and 2: towards the end of the evening (10-11), when people have had their fix and they start chatting with their friends instead of dancing.

It might actually be better to travel to suburbs rather than stay in Central London. First, these places tend to attract slightly older crowd. When you ask a woman who is 20 years older than you are, she can feel fairly confident that it really is dancing you are interested in. Also these places have the same people every week. This means that your first visit might be difficult, but after a couple of weeks they start regarding you as a regular, and most women will be happy to dance with you.

It is also possible to become "a regular" in Central London Salsa crowd. This is not so easy because of the huge number of beginners, tourists, out of town visitors and once a month dancers who frequent these venues. It is more likely to happen once 1. your dancing is good enough that you are able to give a reasonably enjoyable experience to women, and 2. if you go out dancing several nights every week, so that the other addicts start recognizing your face despite of the huge number of faces in Central London Salsa scene.

   
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