How to move your hips in salsa

You don't move your hips on purpose. You bend your knee, and the hips move on their own. Here's the drill to learn it, then how to add it to your basic step.

Why it comes from the knees

When most people try to move their hips, they push them side to side. It looks forced, because it is.

The movement you see in good salsa dancers comes from weight transfer. Every time they step, the knee bends, and the hips follow. I learned this from my instructor, Frankie Martinez: the movement starts from the feet and the legs, and the rest of the body reacts to it.

So that's what you practice. Not the hips. The knees.

The drill, step by step

1. Start with your feet together

Stand with your feet together and your heels flat on the floor.

2. Bend your right knee

Keep your heels flat and bend your right knee.

This will feel strange. Your hips go the opposite way from your knee. You'll feel your ribcage move a little too.

3. Come back up, then do the left side

Straighten up. Now bend the left knee, and notice the same thing happens on that side.

4. Go side to side without coming up

Now stay low. Bend into the right knee, then shift straight across to the left knee as it bends. Then back to the right.

Keep your heels flat the whole time. Don't lift them.

The movement is only side to side. Don't sway forward and back, and don't travel. Stay in place: right, left, right, left.

5. Start stepping

Once that feels okay, turn it into steps. Step with your right foot and land in that same position, with the knee bent. Then step with your left and land the same way.

This will feel different from how you normally walk. Go slowly until it feels natural.

6. Add it to your basic step

Now do your salsa basic step, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, with the same idea on every step. Start slow. Think only about the steps and your knees. Don't think about your hips at all.

When to start working on this

If you've only taken a few lessons, you don't need this yet. Coordinating your feet, your hands, and the timing takes all your attention at the start. Adding hips on top of that is a lot to ask, so focus on the basics first.

If you're past that, and your steps and turns feel relaxed, this is where your dancing will improve the most. Even a little body movement makes a big difference in how natural you look.

I talk about this in more detail in do you have to move your hips when dancing salsa?

Common mistakes

• Pushing the hips. If you're trying to put your hips somewhere, stop. Go back to the knees.
• Lifting the heels. Keep them flat while you shift side to side.
• Swaying. The drill is side to side only. No rocking forward and back, no moving across the floor.
• Starting too early. If you're still thinking about your feet during the basic step, come back to this later.

Questions people ask

Do you have to move your hips when dancing salsa?

Not as a beginner. At first your goal is the basic step, the timing, and a few moves. Once those feel relaxed, body movement is the thing that will help your dancing the most.

Is salsa hip movement the same as Cuban motion?

They're related. Both come from how you transfer weight from one leg to the other, not from pushing the hips.

How long does it take to get natural salsa hip movement?

It takes a while, because it feels unnatural at first. Practice the drill slowly in place until it feels normal, then add it to your basic step.