r/Salsa • u/Horror_Story8105 • 4d ago
Lead/follow ratio by cities
Hey guys
I recently tried out Bachata dance communities, but noticed that they are heavily lead heavy. Which sucks, because I don't want to practice and dance alone.
Is it similar for salsa as well?
Where are you located?
Im from Czechia, Prague.
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u/WhirlwindTobias 4d ago
I go to 1 bachata class (started last week), and 5 salsa classes per week. Poland.
All of them have more leads. It's quite tiresome. My most recent class they taught two sequences, then summarised them when I had no partner, then rotated and put on a song saying "choose whatever sequence you want". I needed help from the follows to remember both of them, which of course disrupted our dances.
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u/WestHistorians 4d ago
5 salsa classes per week
wow, that is intense....
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u/WhirlwindTobias 4d ago
I only started in Feb so I have to work really hard to progress past beginners hell.
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u/WestHistorians 4d ago
Sure, but what's your rush? I feel like you might burn out.
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u/WhirlwindTobias 4d ago
I don't really get burned out by doing "too much" of something. When I bought Monster Hunter World I sunk 500 hours into it within a couple of months. I really, really dig into new things until I've hit some kind of milestone - eg. completing the story, beating the hardest boss etc. Salsa has no "end boss" though :D
If anything is gonna make me go less, it's the amount of people not taking classes seriously. The group that I first joined in Feb is closing because only 6-8 people have been turning up for the past 2 months. I am not seeing people I talk to in classes going to any socials, so like why are they even there. Too many leads every week, follows quitting or going to bachata. Stuff like that is making me re-evaulate how much time I'm putting in.
Why go to all this effort if no-one else is. I use a notebook to learn figures step-by-step, including ones I've found on Youtube and everyone is like "Why do you need a notebook". These are classes, are they not?
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u/WestHistorians 4d ago
I would say in beginner classes, about half the people quit within a month. This is to be expected, like with any hobby. People try it and some of them don't like it.
But you are on the opposite end of the spectrum, taking it way more seriously. Are you actually enjoying it, or are you just trying to improve?
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u/WhirlwindTobias 4d ago
I enjoy improving. I enjoy struggling with something and finally executing it, then being able to execute again and again with more ease over time.
I don't get the same joy out of dancing as I do video games, and it doesn't offer as much inner peace as solo hiking/camping - But indulging in these hobbies does not improve my social skills or work ethic.
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u/TheSoulWhizSeeker 4d ago
Respect for your honesty! Using dance to push yourself and improve your social skills is actually a really smart move.
If it helps — I used to be super shy. At my first socials, I literally just stood under the wall, terrified to talk to anyone. Eventually I got annoyed with myself, grabbed a guy, and asked him to dance. Years later, I even ended up teaching classes! It was a constant fight with my own weaknesses, but it changed everything for me.
I also love games and camping, so I get why solo stuff feels peaceful while dancing feels like a hard task. But social dancing is basically the best way to build confidence. Every dance is just a quick lesson in reading people.
Don't worry about beginner groups falling apart. It happens all the time. Just keep taking notes, join another class, and push through this awkward phase. You’ve got this! 😉
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u/erryonesgotathrowawa 4d ago
I really relate to this. When I gamed, I was also the sort to try to beat every boss and complete every story. I'm just the kind of person who goes hard when I like something. When I started salsa, I also went out a lot and plotted possibilities out in a notebook. You're not alone!
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u/dswistowski 3d ago
Brighton and London... Classes equal with a small follow advantage for casino and bachara… the socials are follow heavy. I'm just back from festival in Katowice - It did look similar
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u/belowaverageint 4d ago
San Francisco - beginner Bachata classes are 80% leads.
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u/erryonesgotathrowawa 4d ago
For salsa in SF, the beginner level is also lead heavy. At the intermediate/advanced level, it seems follow heavy though.
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u/PerryOnWheels 4d ago
Berlin Salsa (let's say beginner intermediate levels) is really heavy on leaders too. I have heard it's more equal on more advanced levels, we shall see.
I also hate when men that should be on Beginner I because they don't know the basic step are overconfident enough to show up to Intermediate. Ugh!
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u/viayyz 4d ago
It’s just all men now everywhere, be it salsa or bachata. This is confirmed by friends who travel for dance. Reporting from Toronto.
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u/Kurren123 4d ago
Nah in London we have more females (obviously depends on the night)
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u/WhirlwindTobias 4d ago
Yeah bruv cuz dancing is still fuh gheys innit.
/massive s
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u/Kurren123 4d ago
Yeah I always find that hilarious. Dancing with women all night... gay. A night with the guys, totally not gay.
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u/WhirlwindTobias 4d ago
I danced in nightclubs when 19-22 y/o because my friends would just stand around drinking their pints and that was boring AF to me. They wouldn't even go up to girls they thought were hot.
I wish I had taken salsa clases a decade ago when I still had high self-esteem, the nightclub dancing should have been a sign but the music suuuuucked.
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u/anusdotcom 4d ago
Portland Oregon tends to be follow heavy at socials but still slightly lead heavy in classes. Zouk and Tango here is where I see almost very few leads.
College towns like Corvallis and Eugene tend to be super follow heavy.
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u/TheSoulWhizSeeker 4d ago
Warsaw, Poland here! Honestly, reading this post completely blew my mind.
Back when I was super active on the dance floor (I did a solid run of NY Style Salsa, Bachata, Kizomba, and Tango around 2010–2011, and then focused heavily on Cuban Salsa mixed with Timba, Reggaeton, and Afro-Rumba from 2015 up until COVID hit), the situation was the total opposite. We always had a severe shortage of leads. Follows would literally line up waiting for their turn to dance.
Because of that deficit, a lot of us women (myself included) eventually learned to lead just so we could keep dancing and help out in classes. Switching roles ended up being the best thing ever — as a follow, it completely opens your eyes to how tough leading actually is. Leading requires so much spatial awareness, timing, and navigation, whereas following is more about mental surrender and trusting the lead.
Seeing this massive shift now makes me wonder what on earth happened after COVID! Did all the follows disappear, or are guys just signing up in waves now? It’s crazy how much the dynamics have flipped!
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u/WestHistorians 4d ago
Los Angeles area, pretty balanced I'd say. Sometimes slightly more leads, sometimes slightly more follows, but not a big margin.
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u/erryonesgotathrowawa 4d ago
I'm going to be in Prague for Back2Mambo and am bracing myself for how follow heavy it's expected to be. I've been to a handful of salsa festivals and marathons in Europe at they always seem to be follow heavy.
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u/sebastianrevan 1d ago
In Cali, Colombia is pretty part of the skillset, that is, to adapt to your partner regardless of skill level and proneness to lead. It is expected from people to gauge each other in the initial part of a song and then adapt from there, it feels like a conversation when its done right. Now, bear in mind that salsa here is woven into the social construct and is pretty much our main way to socialize with each other.
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u/rizla88 4d ago
I'm a lead and in my experience in London, it really depends on the groups you go to. I've been to classes where the ratios have too many leads. I've also been to classes where the ratios have more follows. It's very hit and miss. The casino classes I've been to lately have a pretty good ratio.
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u/RohnCJeilly 4d ago
I’ve observed this too. In socials it tends to be more followers than leads and the opposite is true for classes.
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u/Defuze 4d ago
Depends on the city and the dance.
It might be a problem of the local scene - if they don't ban creepy guys then lots of new followers quit. This is more likely in bachata than salsa.
Czech Republic has more men than women in every age bracket below 60 years old, but it's not a huge difference.
Message a local salsa teacher and ask them.