Would a Salsa dancer find it easier to learn MJ or WCS?

[AussieJ]

I pondered this question for the first time when I recently met someone who's done a couple of months' worth of Salsa lessons - and I told her about how I do Modern jive and West Coast Swing, and she said she'd be interested in learning more about Ceroc.
[INDENT]For someone with such a Salsa background, would they generally find it easier to get exposed to Ceroc rather than West Coast Swing first up? Or the other way around?
[/INDENT]In terms of having to learn a style's fundamentals, footwork, beginner moves, lady styling, general do's and don'ts, that sort of thing.


Or is this sort of question very hard to answer, as it could be down to personal learning/preference - i.e. some individuals pick up WCS easier than MJ, and some others vice versa, even with the 'same starting point' of dancing experience?


Thanks for taking the time to read my ponderous question of the day

[Dreadful Scathe]

she'd pick up MJ in about 10 minutes - WCS perhaps quite a bit longer.

Next question

[Miss Flicts]

I was a salsa dancer before, and I certainly found learning MJ a lot easier than learning WCS.

I think anybody (regardless of previous dance experience) would find MJ easier because there's no new basic footwork pattern to learn - just walking left-right on the most obvious beat. It's a much less technically demanding dance than WCS, which has a more complex basic pattern than salsa.

(*By the way, when I say MJ is less technically demanding, I don't mean it in a negative way at all - I LOVE the lack of a set basic pattern in MJ, because it allows huge scope for variation in personal style and improvisation, and also allows people to learn and progress very quickly.)

[dave the scaffolder]

We had a bunch of Salsa dancing ladies come to Stevenage a while ago, they all picked it up immediatley and went straight into the intermediate class and flourished.

Could not possibly comment on WCS, as it is the Devil's work.

DTS XXX XXX

[ducasi]

We had a bunch of Salsa dancing ladies come to Stevenage a while ago, they all picked it up immediatley and went straight into the intermediate class and flourished.

Could not possibly comment on WCS, as it is the Devil's work.

DTS XXX XXX

A good Salsa follower should be able to follow a reasonably good MJ leader almost immediately.

I've danced with a few experienced Salsa dancers who were just starting out at MJ, and once they'd figured they didn't need to miss out every fourth step or wiggle their hips to a ridiculous degree, it all worked out fine.

WCS required much more learnt behaviour than MJ, but, in theory, they should take to the footwork easier than the typical MJ dancer. I don't think the same Salsa followers I danced MJ with would be dancing West Coast quite so quickly, but if they are looking for a challenge, they might enjoy it more.

[emmylou25]

I came from salsa to ceroc and found it really easy to pick up once I'd got over the panic of not being told where to put my feet. I also found it a lot less cliquey than salsa in my area, plus after 2 1/2 years of good technical salsa dancing/plus quite a bit of club dancing I was nowhere near as good as after only a few weeks of ceroc. If salsa dancers have been taught to follow then they'll improve really quickly.

Anyone who's done a bit of dancing before will find MJ dead easy purely because they've been trained to learn dancing, visualise the moves, copy and pick them up compared to people who come to any type of dancing new.

I've only done a few WCS classes at weekenders as there's none happening within a reasonable distance to me and again find the classes easy to pick up. It's just that without the freestyle and regular practise it's not something that you can get better at whatever your dance background.

[AussieJ]

Excellent answers, the general consensus does confirm what my hunch was (MJ easier than WCS for a beginner with some salsa experience).

All I have to do now is see if she actually makes it to a Ceroc class and be there to see her initial reaction to it

WCS required much more learnt behaviour than MJ, but, in theory, they should take to the footwork easier than the typical MJ dancer. I don't think the same Salsa followers I danced MJ with would be dancing West Coast quite so quickly, but if they are looking for a challenge, they might enjoy it more.

You made an interesting point ducasi - I've been doing MJ for a little while, but then just started learning WCS in January. I can definitely say that it was (and still remains) a shock to my system with the footwork, slot movement, leading - and I presume it was due to the MJ habits I have that are frequently interfering with my learning WCS fundamentals and basics.

Hypothetically, if I had been a salsa dancer instead of MJ, and then started to learn WCS, I may well have found the learning curve a bit easier as a male lead (footwork, doing things like mambos?).

Ah well, I'm enjoying WCS all the same, that's what counts

[straycat]

Could not possibly comment on WCS, as it is the Devil's work.

I don't know... I think the Devil is more into making things easy and accessible so he can lure in as many potential sinners as possible. He's an inclusive kind of guy. It just doesn't sound like WCS is his thing... too steep a learning curve, which puts off potential new damned souls.... in fact - I wonder what that says about MJ?

[jim]

Apart from the fact that footwork is harder than non-footwork I would of thought wcs and salsa (esp, crossbody salsa) are more similar.

They're both danced on a slot and contain lots of very similar moves.

[DavidY]

I don't know... I think the Devil is more into making things easy and accessible ~snip~.... in fact - I wonder what that says about MJ?

Well one of the oft-quoted benefits of MJ is that the music is better and more varied than some other styles. What was that about the Devil and tunes?