PRIVATE SALSA
LESSONS
with Ben
★ Please include your mobile.
Private Salsa Dance Lessons and Classes with Ben.
★ Please include your mobile.
Private Lessons are absolutely the best way to get really good, really quickly, with perfect technique and superb style, and at your own optimum pace without picking up any bad habits. I take Private Lesson so seriously that I have my own private dance studio with mirrors along two walls and wooden dance floor which is specially marked out to aid learning footwork patterns. If you are going to invest your time in learning then you need to have the best quality experience possible. Mirrors are an absolute essential to learning dance as they give you instant visual feedback, and you won't have the hassle and expense of separate studio hire when having lessons with me as the studio is included for every single lesson. I have worked on, and developed, a highly structured system based on principles and techniques that enable all my students to become self-instructing and attain their goals in shortest time whilst having amazing fun on their journey to accomplished dancer. Read more below to answer questions about my methods and ethos. Ben.
People don't go to dance classes because they want to learn a bunch of complex moves.
What you really desire is to express yourself through music via the medium of dance.
You want to attain that feeling of connection. You want to lose yourself in the music so you can find yourself in the dance.
Chemistry, style, passion and expression are what you want to experience when you imagine yourself dancing, and to get there you need to learn a repertoire of skills, and that's where I come in.
Structure is required in the same way that poems cannot be expressed without the structure of language, and my expertise is in revealing that magic without leaving any mystery.
If you have never danced and are afraid to make the first steps, then I can show you exactly how to start the transformation, build inner confidence, ignite and fan that fire in your soul.
If you've already started, but are finding group classes baffling or way too slow for you, then Private Salsa Lessons will clarify and deliver what you need at a significantly accelerated rate.
If you already dance, but are now tired with your "moves", and can't seem to improve or progress, then I can show you in crystal clarity how to free yourself from move based interpretation and transition to expression based dancing. I can show you exactly how to super-charge your underlying techniques and bring a precision and rapport to your dancing you never even considered possible. I'll teach you how to be a truly creative and connected dancer: someone with no limits to their expression on the dance floor.
How is this possible?
I don't rely on traditional dance teaching methods. I have developed a unique and modern system that is easy to understand and execute. In many respects, it is the polar opposite of how group classes deliver their content. In fact, my goal with all my students is to give them the ability to "self-instruct". On top of this, I teach all my students how to optimise their learning, how to obtain the maximum from every lesson they go to - not just mine, but every lesson everywhere. And, also, exactly how to practice to attain the best value from their time spent with me.
I will you teach how to achieve that most elusive dream of all....to turn your passion into motion.
No-risk 100% satisfaction no-questions-asked money back guarantee. If you are not at least 100% happy that you've had the most amazing and valuable lesson, then it's a full refund for you.
If you are a professional or looking to become a professional, either in teaching or running a team, then I can teach you exactly how to deliver dance lessons and become a respected instructor who can inspire creativity in students and generate loyalty with a reputation for excellence.
★ Absolutely the fastest route to accomplished creative dancer.
★ Systematic structured teaching makes it super-easy for anyone.
★ No-risk money back guarantee.
★ Leap ahead & build confidence.
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★ Save a huge amount of time and money, and feel achievement.
★ Professional dual mirrored studio & sprung floor included.
OR, if you prefer, send me an email here. Please make sure you include your mobile number, thank you!
POETRY IN MOTION
Techniques are relatively easy to learn. We start with the absolute first principle and we build upwards. My students do not need to spend very long with me in the studio working on techniques: I give students precisely formulated drills which they can work on in their own time. That is the best use of your time and money - there is no point in wasting valuable studio time ploughing through repetitions that can be executed in the comfort of your own home for free. The best use of your time is to acquire the magic and gold dust in the studio, take on the wisdom, and then perfect these between sessions.
Spinning, rhythm, timing, balance, coordination, spatial awareness, resonance, contramovement, anticipation and others techniques, are mechanical techniques required for dance, but are not actually the dancing its self.
The good news is that although that list sounds daunting, I have a number of drills, patterns, and systems for mastering each of them. It is not at all complicated, it just requires work focused in the right place.
If you were to say techniques and moves were the equivalent of gear changes, then dancing would be the equivalent of driving.
To be a creative driver, you absolutely need to be able to execute slick gear changes at the automated skill level, however, these skills alone do not make you a creative driver: the same is true for dancing. To become a creative and expressive dancer you need the same insights as a poet. Many people are highly proficient in the English language, but it does not make them a poet. To be expressive, you need something more.
Once I have taught you the mechanics, we then shift to the creative and expressive elements. This where I teach you how poetry works in freestyle social dancing (specifically Crossbody Salsa). You are bringing out the inner poet.
This is the exciting bit. You feel your heart sore when you insert your first creative idea into a dance. Soon that becomes easier, and then we move into the expressive realm. This is the place where you play and generate rapport between you and your partner. It can't be described...you just have to experience this to fully appreciate it.
To be the poet you want to be on the dance floor, there is very clearly defined path from where you are now. All of it can be learned through systems and drills and practice. When you have the tools, then you are able to unleash the dancer inside you. Once you start to create, it snowballs, becomes easier and, of course, more addictive :-)
The sky is only the first level.
Note to those that are already experienced: You've reached a plateau, and it seems like you can't push through. You are fed up with trying to remember sequences of moves, or you just can't figure out how to style. Stuck and stale. With my approach, we'll deconstruct what you already know, and we'll put it back together in a way you never even knew could be possible. It will change your mindset on dancing forever and for all dances, not just Salsa. Those sequence patterns you've learned for too long are like poems, and although you may know loads of them, it just doesn't reveal how to write your own poetry, and that's where I can help.
More information about Private Salsa Lessons with Ben...
Major advantages of Private Lesson, other than being the absolute best way of getting really good really quickly, is that you won't pick up any bad habits and you progress at your own personal optimum pace, it's very challenging but without any stress.
Even if you don't have a dance background, that is no barrier in any way. You'll see through my modern teaching techniques it makes no difference. You can still achieve all you desire through dancing. I don't subscribe the traditional dance training methods of watch-copy-repeat, you'll see there are faster more efficient methods.
If you do have some dance background, so we can immediately build on that, the way I teach you'll be able to see and understand the structure and therefore become an expert - there is no mystery, only magic :-)
If you have already been to group classes: there is a big difference in the way Private Lessons deliver content compared to group classes. In group lessons, the delivery system is that students learn sequences (or patterns) so when they dance they repeat sequences they've learned but find it hard to break out them. Although it feels like you are doing actual dancing quite quickly, leading and following is much harder to learn this way: what I will teach you is the pathology, so you gain a solid insight and broad understanding of how leading and following work, which then gives rise to true creativity. You are learning true freestyle salsa from the first minute, and when you can dance like this you are freed to dance any way you want with varying styling and body movement so you can truly express yourself whilst still dancing to the framework of Salsa. You'll attain the Holy Grail of true freestyle salsa about 20 to 50 times quicker than with group classes, and of course with perfect style and technique and no bad habits.
Because I teach a unique system, so you'll learn the theory as well as practice drills to improve between lessons, and I teach all my students learning techniques to enable them to fulfill their potential. My aim is to make all my private students their own instructors, which means they can become accomplished very rapidly, and are freed from feeling like they have to keep attending lessons to improve because they gain an understanding of what is required of themselves to progress.
My goal is to make all my students very creative, confident and connected dancers - as I said earlier, in order to do this the way I teach in the Private Lessons is completely different to the group classes. It's not that the group class lack, they are just a different vehicle for delivering the content to many people simultaneously and consistently, and they have to appeal to a group all moving at the same pace with a single teacher. In Private Lesson with me, you will never learn a single turn pattern (or sequence) because you will be learning how it works from a completely different perspective. You learn the language so you can write your own poetry (rather than just learn poems, which is a reasonable simile to group classes).
My style of teaching is focused on my system of Core Moves and Core Techniques, based on solid principles. As my aim is to make every one of my Private Students their "own instructor", I teach each of them not only special tools with which to improve rapidly but also how to use mental skills to enhance their learning ability. My view is that everyone has a dance-poet inside them, and what I do is show them how the dance equivalent of syntax, semantics, grammar, punctuation and spelling work to such a degree that they can express their very own dance poetry to their full creativity. It's challenging at the beginning, but as your understanding and technique improve you'll become a truly creative dancer and be able to do pretty much anything you can think of in the dance. The first lesson will pretty much blow your mind...
The journey to accomplished dancer is energizing, exciting, uplifting, and a soul-filling adventure.
Private Salsa Lessons for Wedding First Dance or Surprise Dance for a Celebration.
Wedding-first-dance coaching is a fantastic fun way to learn salsa and impress your friends and family on your big day. A course of private salsa lessons will not only teach you the serious technical side but also provide some fun and stylish choreography for you First Dance. Not only will you wow your audience, but you’ll also be able to freestyle afterward and at any clubs you may go to after the wedding.
Events are a specialty of ours. We have experience in every type of salsa event and have the correct insurance, licenses, backup staff, professional equipment (including light shows and radio mics etc), as well as years of experience and know-how to ensure all your needs are met, and your event is a memorable success. Check out our "Hire Us" page for full details.
Private Salsa Lessons for Women.
The goal of any woman in Salsa is to be able to follow any man, anywhere in any club on the planet...and with perfect technique and style.
The main thing Followers must understand is their role in the dance, and once this is understood then you are no longer at the mercy of the Lead...you will then be able to dance with any Leader, who may be a beginner or accomplished and experienced, and have exactly the same quality of dance with all of them, This makes you very popular to dance with, but more importantly you will enjoy your dancing with style and musical interpretation no matter who you dance with - every dance you have all night long will be fabulous...and the amazing thing is you no longer "need" to dance with an amazing Leader to have an amazing dance. It sounds impossible and magical, but is actually based on solid foundation and techniques, you will understand how you can easily integrate style and movement into the flow of the dance. Creating a rapport is one of the most important aspects of following, but most women will completely ignore this as it seems too scary, but I will show you that it is much simpler than you think.I normally drive the focus onto mastering techniques and tools that make the student feel confident and look good on the dance floor. Core basics often form the framework of lessons and attention to getting the pathological moves of cross-body salsa pristine and smooth. There are some fundamental core moves that underpin all women's steps, and once these are understood and banked then becoming a good follower is effortless. Timing with particular attention to getting the natural salsa movement from head to foot is part of what a lot of students like to concentrate on. And, of course, the art becoming a good follower (i.e. being able to follow any man with confidence and style) is not easy, but with the right exercises can be mastered in quite a short space of time with private salsa lessons. Some ladies have a fear of style/styling, but here, also, I have some techniques and exercises that will dispel that claustrophobia and allow the woman to truly express herself on the dance floor. If you have danced for years, and still find some of the moves are not feeling comfortable or throw you off balance then I have remedies for these too - most can be fixed in 2 -3 lessons. If you are advanced and find nothing in your dancing a challenge, think again - don't become bored by your own dance: there is always extra polish to add to your Core Moves, there is always opportunity to define your own expression without interrupting the lead and still keeping total connection with your partner - after all, the reason you started in the first place was probably driven by a desire to express yourself...
Private Salsa Lessons for Men.
It's virtually impossible to make someone a good dancer by just teaching them complex and intricate moves. You may see someone executing amazingly cool moves, and it's very tempting to think that if you can replicate it you too will look cool and stylish too. However, if you look more closely you will that person looks cool and stylish whilst executing the simplest of moves too. If you haven't worked on or paid attention to how you dance then taking on complex moves will just make you look more awkward and ungainly. There are deeper more fundamental things that can be learnt that will raise your game and make even your simplest move look like smooth connected dancing with panache and style.
The first thing to look at is how your understanding and executing the language - this is the structural part and is 1 million percent essential. Then to write your poem on the dance floor we look at how you can create a dance and flow and keep the moves coming, but this is still only the beginning. The thing that really lights up your world is freedom of movement in addition and around the first two elements, and this where things get really exciting. This is the expressive part that you were really interested in when you first decided to take up Salsa. Group classes simply cannot deliver this clarity, they are a different vehicle (excellent at what they do, which is efficiently delivered to a group all moving together with a single instructor). Now all this sounds complex, but it really isn't, you just need the path illuminated for you, and then nothing can stop you!
So where do we start? Well, it doesn't matter if you have no dance experience at all, in fact, you may well be at an advantage because you haven't had opportunities to build bad habits. Unless you are a beginner, the first lesson is always partially assessing where you are. You may already have an agenda, and we can work with that. Then quickly we work on the element(s) that are stopping you from moving forward. Once we have released bad habits or a gap in the understanding then we can build and create your dance wisdom. As I said you may already have an agenda based on style, content, rhythm, timing, leading, interpretation, control of the dance space, your own movement or coordination, or actually anything that bothers you.
Some of the biggest complaints from men are that they are getting bored with their dancing, or some partners don't follow them so well, or that they can't put their own attitude or style into their dancing. Trying to remember sequences that you've learnt in the group turn-pattern classes is a nightmare, and there is a psychological limitation to the number of sequences one can remember, so a lot of guys aren't really dancing true freestyle Salsa, but instead repeating sequences, up to a maximum of 8 (unless you have a particularly amazing memory!). It's a total nightmare as if you can't remember the first move of that sequence you love, then you are stuffed...you have no access to the rest of it. And it's worse than that because you spend the entire evening having the same dance with every single woman all night long. She's happy because she gets a different dance with every bloke all night long - but you feel like you are stuck in a rut. I will teach you how to dance without EVER having to remember any sequences, and instead of a memory exercise you instead create your dance bar by bar as you go along, you make it up and never repeat a sequence all night, let alone with the same woman. This is the truly inspirational place to dance from, truly exciting and so much more fun and creative, and you don't feel like you have to work on remembering all those long sequences or else you "lose your moves". It's challenging, but once you've cracked it you are there and it never goes away.
Then there is leading...well here is some interesting news - I won't teach you any Leads...sounds crazy, but I will teach you something much more valuable: Leading. The difference may seem subtle, but understanding Leading is powerful and all encompassing. Learning a particular Lead is limiting and uncreative and does not give you access to creating your own dance.
Style and movement: well, the absolutely brilliant news about this is that everyone can do this, but most men have no idea about how to integrate it into their dancing, so they don't...and then, of course, you just focus on executing ever more complex "moves" because that's all that's left. I will teach you how to understand this crucial part, and then how to integrate it into your dancing seamlessly and with fluidity. Then you will start to really "feel" the dance and enjoy every single beat, step and movement.
Private Salsa Lessons for Couples.
Taking Private Salsa Lessons as a couple is great fun, and it's one of the best activities you can do together.
You have a clear focus and common agenda and shared goal in learning to dance together. It's also a good way of integrating a vibrant social activity with an adventure with you partner.
The main drive is exactly the same as above in the descriptions of Men and Women, but with the added benefit that you have someone to give it context for practice outside the lessons.
You'll still have to take responsibility for your own role and practice in the dance, and to this end, I usually schedule in separate lessons if it is convenient for the couple.
You really can't beat the buzz you get from being able to dance freestyle Salsa with your soul mate! :-)
Private Salsa Lessons for Groups.
Private Salsa Lessons for Groups are huge fun and there is lots of scope for formats. It's a much faster way of learning than the formal group classes in weekly clubs as I can teach everyone simultaneously and then spend individual attention as when it is needed.
Please conytact me to arrange rates and times.
Other Notes & Fees for Private Salsa Dance Classes:
Some people have become an accomplished dancer, but still want to push their dancing further with advanced techniques, improving the style of their lead, sharpening their following, work on core body movement. Others have specific techniques that they need to perfect, like spinning or advanced versions of pathological moves. Some feel they have plateaued and need some direction to get them to the next level. Even beginners can massively boost their learning in private lessons if they feel that class groups are moving too slow for them. If you want your wedding dance to be Salsa, or you are going to a salsa ball and need a fast track to get you dancing then, again, private salsa lessons can be a massive benefit. Maybe you've had a break from Salsa and want to get up to date and boost your confidence or re-enter at higher level.
Private salsa lessons fees vary depending on if you are solo, a couple, or in a group, and I have discounted rates for booking courses. All lessons include a dual-mirrored dance studio (which will be extra expense and hassle with other instructors). I also include in-line support with a password protected account. My aim is to provide the highest quality experience and best value for money.
I can travel to your house, but it is beneficial to come to my own private studio in Harpenden with mirrors on 2 walls and a sprung wooden floor. You won't have to pay for additional mirrored-studio hire as with most dance instructors. Mirrors make a massive difference in the learning process, especially in the beginning, and most people will learn 2 to 3 times quicker within a mirrored studio. Dancing in someone's kitchen or lounge just isn't the experience that you want if you are paying for private Salsa tuition.
CANCELLATION POLICY.
If you book a lesson and the subsequently cancel it then 50% is due.
If I have to cancel a lesson than a full refund is due (I've never cancelled a lesson).