The music was standard salsa/party Latin songs; mix of Salsa, Bachata, Merengue and Kizomba. There were about 100 people at least. Around 11:30, three Salsa teams showed demonstrations.
Overall, the Salsa ball was fun. I enjoyed it. Thank you for dancers who danced with me.
If you go to specific dance event (like Salsa congress, Tango festival, or West Coast Swing events), people (usually) know how to dance the dance.
But for college parties filled with no experience- and entry-level dancers, you can see variety of dancers at different stages. You can also see how people may progress and evolve in their dance skills.
(i) There are clueless people. They may or may not have dance in them (you can tell), but generally they just do not know the basics of the partner dance.
What they need is knowledge.
(ii) Then there are awkward people. They may have learned basic steps, but their bodies do not move smoothly nor with gracefulness.
What they need is drill and practice (and more knowledge).
(iii) There are OK/fine dancers. They look ...well, OK or fine. They are good enough to enjoy the dance in any social setting. Good for them.
At this time, I do not "teach" these OK/fine dancers, unless directly asked to. If they are happy, why bother?
There comes another "gap", between OK/fine and Great.
(iv) There are great dancers. Here I mean "great" as dancers who can entertain audience and get paid, like dancers on Broadway. Dancers whose dance have appeal to general audience, which is hard to achieve.
These people are rare breed. You do not expect them to be in college parties, though.
The gap between social "fine" dancers and great dancers may be filled by (a) a drastic change in mindset (from self-centered to audience-centered; or from your-own-fun-oriented to audience-entertainment-oriented), (b) by having "right" physical body/appearance, (c) by training to move "right", and (d) by good choreography (which can supplement the "knowledge" part).
Dance by great dancers not only has to look right, but be appealing to the audience. Great dancers need the "wow" factor seen by others.
How can you add the "wow" appeal to your dance? It is something you need to think hard and work diligently to develop. Coaches and choreographers can help, but just so much so without your initiative. This is very personal.
I do not think the four "stages" are a part of linear progress, as many people mistakenly believe. There are gaps, different paths and shortcuts. Paths to great dancers are likely different from paths to OK/fine dancers from an early point. What is needed is unique to each dancer. But willingness to learn helps them all.
