WHAT YOU DON’T SEE (Rico Recap) ft. Lester Castrillo

Written on 02/24/2025

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Welcome to Episode 181 of the Salsa Kings LIVE podcast

We have been featured as #1 in “Top 10 Salsa Podcasts” on FeedSpot.

Hey everyone! If you’re listening to this live or within a week of release, we’re currently on the 2025 Miami Salsa Cruise! We’ve been talking about this for a long time, and it’s finally happening—eight days and seven nights of dancing, fun, and adventure. Tomorrow, we’ll be in the Dominican Republic, then heading to Puerto Rico and St. Thomas.

Big news for next year! Thanks to Lester Castillo, we’ve secured a larger dance floor for 2026. The trip will be seven days and six nights on the Carnival Horizon. If you want to join the fun, visit MiamiSalsaCruise.com or sign up for updates at news.MiamiSalsaCruise.com. Also, check out our shirts from past years at MyDanceShirts.com—we’ve got 2023, 2024, and 2025 designs, and 2026 is coming soon!

Key Points

The Power of Observation in Dance

  • Had a conversation with “It’s Smooth” about how you can tell a lot about someone just by watching them dance.
  • He reminded me of something I already knew but hadn’t been practicing: “How you do one thing is how you do everything.”
  • This made me want to pay closer attention to people while dancing.

Putting the Lesson into Practice

  • I was really tired after teaching a class, but my students convinced me to go out dancing.
  • While dancing, I focused on observing my partners and noticing patterns in their movements.
  • Realized that improvement isn’t just about physical skills—there’s a mental aspect to progress, too.

Connection Through Dance

  • Lester shared that as he gained more experience, he started feeling his partner’s emotions and mood through dance.
  • Over time, he learned to sense if someone was having fun, feeling nervous, or holding back.
  • This level of connection takes practice and mindfulness.

Dancing as a Reflection of Life

  • I compared dancing with someone to having dinner with them.
  • Just like in dance, people bring their personalities into other areas of life.
  • How someone leads, follows, or reacts on the dance floor often reflects their behavior in other situations.

Material vs. Connection

  • Sometimes, dance moves can get in the way of truly connecting with a partner.
  • The equivalent in life would be focusing on flashy things—like buying an expensive dinner to impress someone—instead of just being present and enjoying the moment.
  • True connection comes from intention, not just technique or material things.

Closing Thoughts

Dancing isn’t just about the steps; it’s about connection, observation, and self-awareness. Paying attention to how we dance can give us insight into how we approach other areas of life. Whether on the dance floor or at a dinner table, being present and intentional makes all the difference.

Let’s all remember: how we do one thing is how we do everything. Keep dancing, keep learning, and keep growing. See you on the dance floor!

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