As discussed in the previous post it is not always easy to match the expectation of students to the content of Cuban salsa and while a few teachers seem to have found a good middle ground between what they want to teach and what students expect, this is very difficult to achieve. To give someone the complete picture of Cuban salsa means that learning moves should only be a small part of the class while all the other aspects of the dance such as the history, the culture, styling, musicality, training on leading & following, etc. should be discussed to the same extent. I have been to Cuban salsa classes where there are no Ruedas or students are never introduced to dancing contratiempo simply because a group of students does not like these aspects or finds them too difficult. Similarly, most dance schools I have ever been to never teach any of the more athletic moves even in very advanced classes because of liability concerns so unless people find a teacher who is willing to cover these in a private class it seems nearly impossible to get good training on this area of Cuban salsa.
Often, there is a huge trade-off between the commercial aspect of dance training i.e. giving students predominantly moves without teaching other factors and giving them complete dance training on Cuban salsa which includes many features that they may not actually be interested in but are nonetheless part of Cuban salsa. Many teachers I have met are simply restricted by the policy of their dance school and sometimes I have found that these teachers actually have a lot more to offer and I have learned some of my best moves and background knowledge in private classes where I gave teachers the freedom to teach me what they themselves were passionate about rather than demanding specific things.
Unfortunately, the commercial side of Cuban salsa is not to be ignored as at the very least teachers need to be able to pay for the venue cost, insurance etc. to be able to offer lessons. It is this point that seems to have made dance teachers who focus on other aspects of dancing than just the moves a dying breed and I will happily drive for hours just to get a private lesson with someone that can explain the rhythmic structure of songs correctly and how to execute simple moves to the right beat with the body movement matching the traditional way of dancing etc.
