Nutrition while dancing Salsa
I'm underweight (54 kg / 181cm) and therefore want to gain weight. I'm frequently going social Salsa dancing. On a usual night I'm around 4 hours at the Salsa club. Around 2/3 of the time I'm dancing.
While dancing my pulse is somewhere between 120 and 150.
What food/supplements should I consume to replace the burned calories? When should I eat it?
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Given your body type, no amount of eating will make you gain weight. You have to lift weights to stimulate muscle growth. Also, unless you're steadily losing weight, don't concern yourself with replacing calories - your body is already dealing with the nutrients as it needs to.
Stronglifts 5x5 is a good free resource for starting weight training.
Your current plan will not work
Dancing several times a week plus overeating will not produce the kind of weight gain you want. It probably won't produce any weight gain at all.
Lift and eat (and dance)
If you want to get bigger, then lift weights, eat lots, and prioritize quality mass gain. Salsa can be part of it, but it can't be all of it.
Specifically, I'd recommend lifting heavy at least twice a week and eating enormously immediately after every dance session and workout. Breakfast and lunch should be substantial too, but be careful of eating too close to workouts or dance sessions.
Foods would ideally include grass-fed & grass-finished beef, pastured pork, farm eggs and chicken, omega-3 rich seafood, vegetables, roots, tubers, greens, as much dairy as you can handle, and good fats like avocado, olive oil, and coconut oil. If you handle it well, rice, corn, quinoa and other grains can add a lot of calories as well.
Further reading
It would be good to fully understand the depth and complexity of how nutrition affects changes in body fat and body mass. A calorie is not a calorie, and our bodies do not function as calories-in, calories-out machines. This question has some informative answers on the topic.
Ok, dancing for that amount of time, you will burn somewhere in the range of 600-1000 calories. There isn't really a need to specially supplement, just eat something. Doesn't have to be anything specific. I might suggest things that are not really heavy on fats, like a double burger with cheese and bacon, but unless you have a sensitive stomach it doesn't need to be as easily absorbable as what a marathon runner would be consuming.
However, unless you are gaining weight at a rate you find acceptable, I think something you should do is evaluate your entire diet, activity level and see if it is producing the results you want. Read through a couple of the "How do I lose weight" threads (Such as this one : So am I at a calorie deficit now? ), and pretty much do it in reverse. A 500 calorie surplus per day should net you about .5 kg a week of weight gain, which is pretty healthy and sustainable.
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