Advice for Guys starting Salsa Dancing......
There is absolutely nothing in life that rivals the excitement and creativity of being able to lead a lady in a feestyle dance.
I won't lie to you and tell you that you can learn to lead a Salsa dance in one or two lessons.....BUT, the journey is one of discovery and self realisation and self actualisation.
It won't be very long before you are creating your own dance according to your own creativity, and I have to tell you most men are unaware of the creative peot inside them until they learn to dance. It's like learning to dance releases a beautiful animal inside, or awakens a spirit. This sounds like I am over stating what can be achieved, so don't take my word for it, talk to others at the Salsa Machine dance club.
Anyway, I can still remember my very first steps crossing into the Salsa World, so I know first hand that confidence is a big big big issue. At Salsa Machine we have worked carefully on, and believe that clear instruction with a technical grounding in easily understood First Principles is the way forward for students (that's you!) to learn. You will be in the most capable and competent hands of trained instructors who nuture you through your journey.
My advice: Practice, Practice, Practice.
Your first lesson is the one where you do the internal "Oh....Ah....and what?....".
That can't be helped because even in teaching you a very specific and carefully slected range of items, inevitably your subconscious raises a whole load of questions, and by the time they are filtered and presented to your conscious mind you feel like you have more question marks floating around inside you than when you first walked in....'tis OK though, this is the natural process of your mind attempting to fill in gaps.
Very soon the holes will be filled with answers and you start to feel quite comfortable with how it all works. You frame of reference starts to gain some clarity and focus, and then things start to click and that's when it gets REALLY exciting :-)
I suppose I am saying, "allow yourself to be a beginner, allow yourself to learn and go through process of assimilation".
Finally, allow yourself to have fun. It is a lot of pressure to learn how to orchestrate a dance, but remember to pat yourself on the back and credit yourself when things are flowing, and enjoy the path that adds a little more to your repertiore each week and makes your dancing bit by bit, inch by inch more creative and exciting. Watch yourself grow as you journey toward dance poetry in motion :-)