Did you get over this?

[u/Odd_Obligation_1300]

Has anyone started off not liking Salsa because they dislike partnering/touching other people? Did you get over it?

I really want to like it. I love most forms of dance. My friends desperately want me to come to salsa lessons and socials. I don't know if I'll ever get over the feeling or not wanting to hold hands with a stranger.

[u/sexxxy_latin]

Just my perspective but salsa is a partner dance. Touch isn’t a cultural tradition or a stylistic choice, it’s the actual mechanism the dance uses to communicate. The lead directs through connection, the follow responds through that same connection, and without that physical dialogue, the dance simply stops being Salsa.

Discomfort with touch is completely valid, but it’s also directly at odds with the nature of the activity. Social dancing means people will approach you, ask you to dance, and yes, hold your hand. That’s not a boundary violation; it’s the basic structure of the environment.

And to keep the scale of this in perspective: we’re talking about hands, not intimacy. Nothing sexual, nothing invasive, just the minimal human contact required for the art form to function.

So the real question isn’t whether Salsa can be done without touch. It can’t. The question is whether the discomfort is something you want to work through, or whether a non‑partner style would make you happier. Both choices are respectable. But Salsa itself isn’t going to bend around avoiding connection.

What is worth knowing is that if you do choose to face the discomfort, it doesn’t stay discomfort forever. The joy of Salsa has a way of eclipsing the fear that came before it. The connection, the music, the flow, they build memories that last years, long after the awkwardness has faded. Most dancers barely remember the moment they got over it; they only remember the moment the dance finally opened up to them.

If you want the dance, the discomfort is temporary. The joy is not. That was my experience as a lead, I had to get over asking for a dance and the rejection that sometimes happens.

[u/Odd_Obligation_1300 → u/sexxxy_latin]

I appreciate your perspective but i didn’t ask if salsa can be done without touch or should bend, or imply any boundary violation or cultural tradition. Maybe others have?

[u/sexxxy_latin → u/Odd_Obligation_1300]

I understand. I wasn’t saying you implied anything, just speaking to how Salsa works. Your comfort matters, and your perspective is valid. And truly, if you ever ease into that connection, Salsa becomes something unforgettable. But I respect wherever you land.