So I thought I might post something that is pretty useful for me right now. I actually wrote this on a napkin at a club while I was working on my on2. Sometimes I go to the club and I see a move that I like and decompose it. Now, I can’t only decompose it now, but I have to ‘translate’ it to the beat pattern I need to dance on. For example, if I see an On1 move, I need to figure out how to do it On1, and then translate the steps On1. If you have this similar situation on how to translate moves, I give you this useful table:
|
On1 Steps |
|
NY On2 Steps |
|
PR On2 #1 |
PR On2 #2 |
| |
1 |
<-> |
6 |
<->
|
2 |
2 |
| |
2 |
<-> |
7 |
<-> |
3 |
3 |
|
3 |
<-> |
8 (pause) |
<-> |
4 (pause) |
4 |
| Neutral |
4 (pause) |
<-> |
1 |
<-> |
5 |
5 (pause) |
| |
5 |
<-> |
2 |
<-> |
6 |
6 |
| |
6 |
<-> |
3 |
<-> |
7 |
7 |
|
7 |
<-> |
4 (pause) |
<-> |
8 (pause) |
8 |
| Neutral |
8 (pause) |
<-> |
5 |
<-> |
1 |
1 (pause) |
One thing you’ll notice is that from On1 to any form of On2, there is no direct step-correlation. Why? Well, its mainly because the pauses taken are in differnt locations. Therefore, dancing On2, is slower than dancing On1. I will write an article later on about what I call ‘hang-time’ in order to explain this effect - but I hope this table helps some of you trying to decypher any moves you see. The amount of Hang-Time is shown in yellow for each type of style.
[UPDATED] Not sure about #2 PR, but it was submitted by a user. There might be more than 1 style in Puerto Rico.. funny, I’m Puerto Rican, and I should know… too bad that when you are growing up in PR, all you hear is reggaeton/rap. Sad that most of my childhood friends never really danced salsa.
Well, it finally happened. I can dance on2 much better than I started. I really don’t have to think about counting that much anymore (I do have my screw-ups, but I quickly realize and fix them). It happened this week. I went dancing every day except Monday for at least 2-3 hours (on2). But, guess what? I had to dance on1 with some ladies in the crowd - and OH MY… I couldn’t. I literally forgot what on1 was. My feet didn’t feel right, they didn’t step in the right spots - I ended up autocorrecting myself to go back on2. I guess I’ve built the new ‘on2′ white blood cells and they are kicking the on1 cells out… in the words of Rodney King: Can’t we just all get along?
What is interesting (other than I can’t dance on1 anymore) is that I have very few moves on2 - however, I have more body movements and footwork on2, than I do on1, which works pretty well (I end up having more fun because I like adding body motion styling). Its interesting because the stuff I do on2, I cannot do on1 - mainly because there is more (what I call) hang-time between beats.
The question is, what do I do now? How do I train myself to switch between on1 and on2 on the dancefloor. Practing at home is one thing. Being at the club and having to turn on the on1 switch and turn off the on2 switch.. and vice versa.. I’ll need to figure that one out.
Salsa Clave
[UPDATE] So, I forgot to mention what the schedule was for Week 3. I went to the club, and something funny happened… I could dance on2 ok with some girls, and others - I ended up screwing up (could be the song or the follow too). I also ended dancing on1 (after warming up) and I did very well with some girls, and others - completely sucked. What I can attest to is that I now prefer on2.
So this week (week 3), I will be focusing on 2 things: one, keeping the timing correct while doing footwork and combos, and working on naturalizing my on2 footwork (I’m saying goodbye to On1 for a long time). Mainly because I really want to start feeling more comfortable.. (and hopefully not have to count while I dance on2). I’ll start arriving around 11:40 pm at the club, because thats when most of the great dancers show up (which do on2) — there is no point getting there early in this diet if I can only dance on1.
2 weeks left… can I make it? I might have to add more gas on the fire to make it happen…
After such a long hiatus, we are back! We have received your emails requesting a more longer beginner lesson, so here you have it. In this episode we review the basic front-and-back salsa step (different angles), the side-to-side break, the right turn and partnering. Hopefully this helps many of you get started in salsa dancing!
Extended Beginners Salsa Dancing Lesson
I would like to provide credit where credit is due. I reverse-engineered this move on a video I saw of some really good dancers dancing at a club! (Sorry, don’t know their names, but they were good)! Anyway, this is a tight combo that can be linked together with other combinations you might know. Of course, like every episode we add some styling so you can get started!
Slick Salsa Dance Pattern
Again, we are only getting to learn how to use FinalCut Pro for video editing, so please bear with us on our video quality — but here is our first published dance combo. It is basically putting right turns and crossbody leads with styling. You can do it over and over again so you can practice those two fundamentals!
Watch Dance Episode
