SALSA DANCING BEWARE — It is common knowledge that there are some professional salsa dancers in every scene who truly wish to make have a grand lifestyle off what they do with their dancing and teaching in the salsa scene. These pro dancers see each person in their classes as cash flow that they better squeeze out like a lemon before they are gone to learn from someone else or to not take any lessons anymore. 

These pro dancers will be quick to promote their "private dance lessons," their "shoe lines," or their "salsa wear fashion dresses," etc, etc., to dancers who have attended only one of their lessons. You will hear a line that sounds a bit like this about their private lessons: "if you truly want to learn to dance, you have to pay me to teach you privately, where all my attention can be given to you and only you." More or less, the statement will go along those lines. 

The point with them is that they want YOUR money and once they have your interest for a private lesson, they will be very quick to sell you a package of private lessons in order to "save YOU" money, and then they will purposely not teach you well so that you buy another package after the lessons are done. Their thinking is based on the idea that: "why would they teach you to dance in just a few private lessons and let go of a possibility to squeeze you for more money?" It is shady, yes, but that's how some of these pro dancers run their businesses. 

If you are truly interested in learning how to dance, yes, private lessons can help you greatly, but you have to be careful who you give your money to. Do not ever buy a package before at least attending a group lesson by this instructor and seeing how they truly teach their beginner dancers, and before you at least buy a single private lesson, so you can qualify them and their interest in YOU learning how to dance. Learning to dance, when there's a true willingness from a person, will happen incidentally just by going out to clubs to dance, maybe taking their lessons, getting to know people and then asking those who know a bit more than you to teach you a move here and there. But some people need that special extra-attention and that's okay, so long as you are not being taken advantage of. 

This isn't just me attempting to talk bad about professional salsa dancers. I have made it very clear that I am only referring to some pro dancers who teach, not to a whole community! If any dancer feels that this is about them, then they know why and it may sound a bit like I am describing them precisely as they are. I can do that, not because I have been like that with anyone ever, or have been taken advantage in that way when I was a beginner, but because I have seen it happen with my own eyes and professional dancers have expressed to me their tactics to profit more when they simply wanted to brag about how 'clever they were' with their students.

So, this may answer the question of why are some professional salsa dancers truly unwilling to teach beginners who come to them for lessons. You are a source of income to them. If they teach you, you will be gone and your money will go with you. Just take the lessons you need and go out into the dance floors of your city to dance and dance...I assure you, you WILL learn! Good dancing, everyone!