I want to learn to dance to improve my social life. What dance is the best? I don't have preference for music. As far as I understand salsa is most popular but..The other night I went to a Salsa club and realized that I can never be remotely competent compare to Latin men that are so natural at this.
Is Swing dying out?

Social life = meeting the opposite sex (or equivalent). You need to take a look at who's in the salsa clubs, the swing clubs, and the dance studios. And what the potential social life prospects are. Perhaps your best bet is to go to the local studio (go to the independent ones, they have the more youthful crowds) and look at the composition of the group classes. As a guy, for instance, you will be in the minority - but that's GOOD - your chances are better with less competition (many men are skittish about showing up in a dance class - and that means that they are no longer competition for you!)

Salsa is no different than any other dance discipline - you need to learn and practice and you'll 'get it'. Race or ethnicicity has nothing to do with it. You'll find latinos who do good swing dance too....

'Natural' is the look that is achived by work and practice. the same way a baseball player looks so 'natural' - he works at it to make it look 'easy'.

anon is right about salsa just being another dance in which you practice and become proficient in. You just have to find an instructor who can teach you, and be willing to devote yourself to it. As for swing, it's a really fun dance, but I have to admit, the swing clubs are usually filled with the over 45 crowd, so for a young guy trying to use dance to pick up women, swing might not be the best thing.

With that said, I feel it's important to point out that the vast majority of women in dance studios are not there to meet guys, and I'm talking about chains and independent studios. If they wanted a guy to pick them up, they wouldn't hang out in an environment where men are scarce. I've seen guys try to pick women up in a studio, and it's just pathetic. They're not that focused on the dancing, and it shows. I think to use dancing as a means of attracting women, you've got to be an amazingly good dancer. The guy who does a few groups and takes private lessons once every couple weeks, isn't going to develop the skills to be really 'natural' as you suggest. I think Hollywood has created this notion that a guy with dance skills is automatically guaranteed to get women. This is such a farse. Being able to dance just adds another dimension to yourself. That may make a guy more attractive to women, or it may not. I once brought a date to a dance party, and she just got angry with me because I could dance and she couldn't. The fact that it takes years of training to achieve some ability will discourage most guys who just see dancing as a pick-up tool. Think about it, if taking lessons for a short while really was this secret way of attracting women, dance studios would have three times as many men than women.

Dance because you love it, and you get something out of it. Get serious, and work hard to improve. Don't eliminate learning a dance just because you think you won't be able to use it as a dating tool. Who knows, you might meet a girl who's mother loves swing. Wouldn't it be cool to impress her too? Someone who dances primarily for any reason other than the fact that they love it, will never appear natural or be a good dancer (competively or socically).

anon and guy who dances, thank you very much for your replies

Hocks. The swing dances International or American Style need a lot of room. Rumba can fit in to a crowded area as can Cha Cha but the steps would have to be very resricted. Salsa can stay in one small area, as you probably saw at the Salsa Club, without getting in each others way. Why not do both. Each is good excercise, mental and physical.

Hocks. You can get teaching dance vidios from the Libruary or buy online. Not as quick as going to a teacher, but will do as a start.