Salsa Articles

Salsa Timing: The Difference Between Salsa On 1 and On 2

There are a lot of questions and myths out there around the difference between salsa on 1 and on 2, so we’ve collected the facts here for you.

We hope this article will allow you to have more educated conversations on salsa timing, and help you decide which timing you enjoy more. It’s OK to love both!

Before we dive in, here’s some quick background…

On1 salsa timing is commonly known as L.A. style, which, in the past, has often focused on sharp hits in the music and flashy moves.

On2 salsa timing is commonly known as New York style. While the old school Paladium-era dancers danced On2 to beats 2-3-4, 6-7-8, the most common way of dancing On2 these days is called “Modern Mambo,” danced to beats 1-2-3, 5-6-7 (the same beats as On1). Modern Mambo was popularized by Eddie Torres and is known for its more sauve feel and complex turn patterns.

Let’s dig in and find out why these timings look and feel different.

The Benefits of Good Salsa Turn Technique

salsa turn technique1

In the fast-paced world we live in, we want everything immediately and too often this spills over into how we learn, leading us to glaze over the fundamentals and not reach our salsa dancing potential.

The problem is that there’s a misconception with fundamentals. People get antsy when they work on basics, they want to progress faster, “I’m ready to move on!” they say. But when you move on so quickly, not nurturing the foundation you’re building, you hit an upper limit, a ceiling. Read more →

How Salsa Turn Technique Will Change Your World

Taking 15 minutes to better understand turn technique could change your world.

A month ago, we cruised over to beautiful Kelowna, Canada with Patrick and Scarlet to teach some salsa workshops on turn technique. At the start of class Patrick and Scarlet asked everyone to social dance, using inside and outside turns, to get a sense of where everyone was at. I jumped in and started dancing with Rina (not her real name).

Immediately, I realized Read more →

I Keep Screwing Up My Social Dances, What Should I Do?

So you mess up. Big deal. It happens to all of us and it happens all the time. If you’re new to social dancing, you’re probably more nervous than the rest of us, but you’ve got to get used to making mistakes. It’s completely normal and very forgivable.

How you deal with your mess ups is what really matters.
Read more →

How Much Time Should I Spend Practicing Salsa?

Photo credit: Sean Macentee – license

When you’re learning how to Salsa dance, time plays a big role in the training process. It’s important to understand how it affects your learning process so you can decide on how much to practice, how frequently to practice and how you use all that time to get the results you want.

Let’s take a look at each aspect of training time to see how it can affect your progress and results.
Read more →