Salsa Holds

There are 2 main types of holds in Salsa Dancing.

The first is the "open" hold. The open hold is pretty simple. The Leads place their hands in front of them with their palms facing upwards. The Follows will have their hands on the Leads hands with the palms facing downwards.

The angle of the elbow really depends on the height of Follow. The Follow should have an angle of at least 90 deg to 210 deg. It is up to the Lead to adjust his bend in the elbow to accommodate the follow.

The second type of hold is the "closed" hold. This is the traditional hold where the Lead has the left arm extended to the side and the right arm bent with the right hand behind the Follows back. It is easier to show you with a youtube clip than describe it in words :P. Leads, remember to keep a good frame.



Remember, it is a lot easier to do any type of pattern with the open hold. As you progress in learning more patterns, you will learn that an open hold allows easier movement and hand signals than the closed hold. Usually patterns will go from a closed hold to an open hold at the beginning of a pattern.