TAKE THE TEST AND FACE THE TRUTH!

The Salsa Test

Is salsa taking over our life? Have you heard whispers that you're becoming addicted to salsa? Are you afraid that you or a loved one is becoming a salsaholic? Take this simple test, or take it on behalf of someone you care about. However painful it might be, it's time you faced the truth.

Lifestyle
1. More than 50% of the clothes in your wardrobe are dance-related. (1 point)

2. When you are debating whether or not to buy a new article of clothing, a chief factor in the decision is whether or not you can wear it dancing.
Give yourself an extra point if you also dance in the outfit to ensure that everything stays in place before you buy it. (2 points)

3. You own a pair of suede-soled dance shoes -- Give yourself an extra point if you also own
1. Dance Sneakers
2. Fancy Ballroom Shoes for Performances (i.e. glitter/spats) (1 point)
(1 point)
(1 point)

4. You have to explain at least once a week that you missed a TV program, a business function or social event because it conflicted with your salsa dancing. (1 point)

5. What you eat for dinner depends on whether you're going dancing afterwards (nothing too heavy, no garlic or onions). (1 point)

6. Even though you are an advanced dancer, you drop in on the beginner/intermediate class at least once a month just in case they are doing a move you've never learned or to improve your basics. (1 point)

7. You convince yourself you can get by on less than 6-8 hours of sleep per night. (1 point)

8. You take naps during lunch or breaks because you went dancing last night. (1 point)

9. You don't know the last name of at least five dancers, but refer to them descriptively instead as something like "You know the guy -- the one with the big grin on his face whenever he dances" or "The girl that always has long hair down to her waist and high heels" (1 point)

10. Your voice message has background salsa music. (1 point)

11. The bouncer at the club knows you by name. (1 point)

12. You vividly remember how you got addiced to salsa. (1 point)

13. You have considered quitting your day job to have a full-time career related to salsa. Give yourself an extra point if you are considering that right now! (1 point)
(+1)

Friends
14. When you come back from work or school you start making and receiving phone calls regarding who's going to which club tonight. Give yourself another point if, when you find out none of your friends are going dancing, you go anyway. (1 point)

15. You go to non-dance-related social functions with other dancers, but you cannot carry on a conversation for longer than 15 minutes without talking about salsa. (This includes gossiping about people at dance class or club!) (2 points)

16. Your salsa friends out number your non-salsa friends 3 to 1. (1 point)

17. To meet your non-salsa friends, you try to influence them to come to the salsa club. (1 point)

Travel
18. You have, at least once in the past year, spent more time driving to a salsa club than you knew you would actually spend dancing, i.e. one hour each way commuting to dance less than two hours. (1 point)

19. You listen to salsa at times when you cannot possibly dance - i.e. on your car stereo, with headphones while taking public transportation, on airplanes. Give yourself an additional point if you have actually taken your hands off the steering wheel while driving in order to clap your hands or tap your feet to the clave. (1 point)
(+1)

20. You plan business trips and vacations so as to avoid missing your favorite dance class or club night, i.e. leaving the morning after and/or arriving the afternoon before. (1 point)

21. You get information about salsa clubs in the city of your vacation or business trip, and pack dance clothing and shoes so you can dance while you're there. (1 point)

22. You plan your holidays based on salsa conventions or places that have lots of salsa clubs. (10 points)

Computers / Internet
23. Your e-mail address, password, or screen-saver is salsa-related! (1 point)

24. You subscribe to a salsa mailing list. (1 point)

25 You have e-mail relationships with other dancers in which you write about dance-related activities (1 point)

26. You surf the net for salsa-related websites. Give yourself an extra point if your home page is a salsa website. (1 point)

27. You maintain or write for a salsa-related website. (10 points)

Your Score:???

What does your score mean?

1 - 5 points:
Are you kidding? Are you taking this test as a joke? You probably don't even know a turn dip from a flip! Get outta here - bet you don't even own dance shoes!

6 - 15 points:
Not to worry. You're one of those social dancers. You can take it or leave it. You can walk off the dance floor anytime. Salsaholics view you with suspicion.

16 - 25 points:
You're a borderline salsaholic. With some effort on your part you can take back control of your life without outside help. It may be enough to cut out dancing between dance classes.

26 - 40 points:
Mayday, mayday. Houston, we have a dance problem. Don't be surprised if your friends organize an intervention to confront you with your addiction. You are a certified salsaholic. You can deal with problem directly by making it a habit to start hanging out with your non-salsa friends on a regular basis.

41 or more points:
Salsafreak. Welcome to the club. We'll see you at the RIO

i shall see you at RIO, kumar....