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When Salsa Kicks your Butt

It was inevitable. Nova has her first salsa related injury after blogs joking about the dangers of the dance form. But this one didn’t involve a salsa character partner. It was a pearl that did me in. For those not in the know, a pearl is the last half of a diamond, a shine that ends in basically two quick squats. To be fair, it wasn’t the source of the injury, but it did make it worse. Stretching was the match to the straw and gasoline. Out of salsa commission for a few weeks, I’m turning to sports techniques to prevent loosing my Jedi readiness of being an 0n-2 follower:

• Mental visualization. They say it helps athletes to visualize over and over a certain play, jump, free throw… So why not turn patterns and shines? So far, I find this useless. Putting on music and staring into the ceiling trying to conjure mental images of dancing with a partner doesn’t work as a follower for me! And truthfully, I’m afraid that such deep concentration will will myself into some parallel salsa dimension that I won’t be able to get back from.
• Dancing in place. Sort of. Related to above, but with a slight attempt to mimic the footwork. Inherently dangerous of retriggering the injury. And you might scare your spouse that you’re having a stroke, shuffling like that.
• Indoctrination through videos. I do this anyway, and it does work. Watch turn pattern videos over and over, rewinding to specific moves. Memorize. Memorize. Memorize. Experiment on unsuspecting leaders when the time is right. Risk? Same as mental visualization-willing yourself into another salsa dimension with no way back.
• Mediate to the music and become one with the count. We’re back to the risks of #1. But I actually think this is the key to obtaining the holy grail of on-2 and becoming an almighty Scissor. I think I’ll focus on the music and the count, and try to figure out how I can break its barrier and master it.  How to make my feet dance around the count of the flute and not just the clave.

So that’s how Nova will see things. She’s on a mental salsa retreat, a recluse in the hills and caves of Inwood. Who knows, I might return a better dancer! If it’s been awhile since you’ve heard from me, someone look for me in another dimension. Bring your dance shoes. You might want to stay.

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