Partner Search Experience

By: Anonymous Salsera in California;

I’ve been dancing about 2 years now and I absolutely LOVE Salsa. About 6 months ago, I met a very nice guy at my local Salsa club & we decided to become dance partners. Usually we’d meet at the club every Saturday, take the Advanced lesson & have a great time dancing the rest of the evening.

It was working out pretty well for a while, but we needed to work on some of the more difficult and fancy moves. He lives very far from me and I had a hard time getting him to come over early or spend time practicing with me. I’m a great cook, so I’d try to entice him with home-cooked meals – sometimes that worked, sometimes not! (I thought about trying to entice him in other ways, but I decided I didn’t want to wreck the friendship!)

He would agree that we needed to practice, but he didn’t seem to want to make the effort.

What’s a serious Salsera to do?

When I saw that Edie’s webpage had the Partner Search up and running, I jumped in and placed an ad. Salsa is my favorite, but I’m interested in other dances too – so I was looking for a guy who lived near me, was at or a little above my level in Salsa, who wanted to take lessons & practice together, and who either could dance the other dances I like, or was at least willing to learn them

I was pleased to get the first response less than 24 hours after placing the ad. It’s been online a while, but I still get a new response almost every day! Just got one today & he sounds great......but he lives in Switzerland! That's just a little too far away!

Here are a few of my experiences with the men I “tested”.

- One guy said he had a girlfriend & just wanted a partner for Salsa & was willing to learn other dances. He only danced with me twice that night (I was clearly at his level), ignored me the rest of the evening & rubbed himself all over my best friend during the Merengue! He’s OUT!!!!

- One guy said he was looking for someone Intermediate to Advanced in Salsa & he was also willing to learn other dances. Turns out he's never taken a lesson & while he does have good rhythm, he doesn't know how to do a proper basic or LEAD a woman. He might get a chance, if he takes
some lessons!

- One guy was very nice, but way, way too beginner for me right now. I saw him at a local club a few weeks ago, doing his 3 moves – a basic, a right turn for the lady & a simple cross-body lead. I was very happy to see him out there dancing. We all have to start somewhere - right? (I
found out later he’s been taking Salsa lessons for 2 years!?! I don’t know WHERE, but I wouldn’t recommend the instructor!)

- One guy was very nice, very much a gentleman & good at Salsa and Merengue - I met him at a club in LA. Unfortunately, he lives quite far from me, he works 6 days a week & goes to school 5 days a week.
He's very sweet (and cute too), but WHEN would we have time to practice? Sunday mornings at 3am?

- One guy was gorgeous and hunky AND he lives near me! The problem is, he answered MY ad & MY BEST FRIEND'S ad! We've both tested him & agree he can dance well! We MAY share him? We haven’t decided yet. (I don’t think he’d mind)

- One guy went to the club we agreed to meet at & watched me dance for about 20 minutes before he came up to me. We chatted a little, but said he had a headache & didn't want to dance. He left shortly thereafter.
I haven’t danced with him yet. We did meet for coffee, but he hasn’t called since then! Maybe he was looking for something OTHER than a dance partner? I’m not sure….

- One guy was supposed to meet me at a particular club. He said he went there, but he said later that he couldn't find me. I don't know how that could be - I was the ONLY woman in a green dress & I sat at the table directly in front of the entrance & when I danced, I stayed down by the band so I was in plain view of ANYONE who walked in the door.
There is NO WAY anyone would miss me! Maybe he was awed by my great legs & my passionate, uninhibited dancing & was too shy to approach me?                     ahhahahahahahaha!!!!!

- Another guy lives north or me & is kinda crazy, but he does Salsa and some of the other dances extremely well that I enjoy and we’ve had a lot of fun dancing together! Maybe he'll be moving closer to me? I hope, at the very least, that we can be friends & dance again soon. :)

My partner search has been interesting, humorous, and even a little frustrating at times, but I’ve met some very nice people, made new friends, expanded my social dancing circle, tried new clubs, and generally had a great time!

Ironically, since I began the search, my original partner has been paying more attention to me! He’s been coming over more often to practice with me, he’s learning some other dances, and we went to an all-day Salsa workshop together. He even spent Valentine’s Day practicing with me, then he took me to dinner! He really IS the best!