Salsa City Forum » Salsa Music and Dance » salsa styles question??

Bit of a random few questions...

I am a Thursday night and jumpin jaks newbie intermediate and am going to NYC in a few weeks and friends in the usa have told me the city has a huge salsa scene... being brave (possibly stupid) I’m considering maybe trying to find a salsa club while I’m there!!!

Would there be a difference in the style of dancing?? Am I likely to be out of my depth??

Thanks in advance...

If you go to Andy’s Thursday classes then the style will be broadly similar!!

Though one confusion may be that most NewYorkans will dance on the 2 rather than the 1 - either way I admire your get up and go!! I doubt if you’ll have a problem with enjoying yourself immensely

Have fun!

Have been trying to figure out dancing on the 2 and can’t quite get my head round it!! If I manage to find a good club I may watch for a little while first!!!

Hi Tanyalouise,

Wow dancing in New York will be amazing! Like eldj said it will be mainly on2 and very linear (cross body) but I’m sure if you’ll love it.

The trick to dancing on2 is not to think about it too much. Most guys will probably lead you on 6 so you’ll think you’re dancing on1 as you’ll be stepping back on your right foot anyway. It’s a great trick to get on1 dancers to dance on2.

Just go with the flow and enjoy yourself. :)

Have a fantastic time!

I’d appreciate if someone could explain to me exactly what dancing “on the 2” means. Does it just mean starting on the second beat of the bar?

If so, I’m wondering why anyone would want to start dancing on the second beat of the bar. The feel of most western 4/4 music (Salsa music included) naturally leans towards the 1 of the bar. Musical people would find it stange to start dancing on the 2 of the bar, as it feels unnatural and is against the flow of the music. After a while they’d get used to it, but it still goes against the natural stress of the music.

Any light that could be shed on this matter would be great! I’ve been wondering about this for a while!

Check out www.salsanewyork.com they have the best explanations on there. There are actually two different methods of dancing on 2 but the basic premise is following the slap of the conga’s and the clave.
It’s important to note that Salsa is a mix of a lot of Latin music all thrown into one pot. So certain ‘styles of music’ lean more towards certain forms of dancing.
Cuban Timba, New York Mambo, Son or Cumbia are all considered to come under the Salsa Umbrella but all are danced to differently.
Hope that helps, if you’re not sure come and speak to me when I’m DJing and I’ll give you a more practical demonstration.

If you follow Andy’s link you’ll see that the simple answer is no, you start on the first beat of the bar as you would expect, but the steps are different. The idea is to get closer to the music rather than to go against it.

Salsanewyork isn’t the best designed site, so in case you can’t find it this is the direct link to the page you need: http://www.salsanewyork.com/ourdancemusic.htm#DEFINITION

Thanks everyone!! Will be sure to give it a go... website isn’t the greatest but there is a club nearby to my hotel...

Will let you how I get on...

Andy... I promise I won’t foget your ‘yorkie’

Thanks everyone for your help. This is a great forum!