Salsa On 2 is characterized by breaking on beats “2″ and “6″ of your 8-beat bar*. A break step is simply the step in which you change body direction. This is called “breaking on 2” or “dancing on 2”.
Our steps in Salsa On 2 are taken on beats 1,2,3 and 5,6,7 of the 8-beat bar. We do not step on beats 4 and 8. We hold them. The man will start with his left foot back and the woman with her right foot forward on the beat 1 of the bar. We dance these steps forward and back, in a line or slot, not side-to-side or in a circular pattern.
Salsa On 2 is also commonly called:
• New York Style Salsa
• Eddie Torres Style Salsa
• Nightclub Style Salsa
• Mambo
Salsa On 2 is not to be confused with the Pallidium Style of Salsa (or the traditional Mambo). It is danced slightly different stepping on beats 2,3,4 and 6,7,8 of the 8-beat bar. Through the years, the two dances have become synonymous and Salsa On 2 has become known as Mambo.
*8-beat bar: Salsa music is played in 4/4 time and has 4 beats per measure or bar. Technically, we use 2 bars (or 8 beats) to complete our basic step in Salsa, however, dancers refer to this as a “dancer’s bar” or an “8-beat bar.” This differs from a “musician’s bar” which has 4 beats. Many other dances, not just Salsa, also count using the 8-beat dancer’s bar. So just remember, dancers count in 8 and musicians count in 4.
Hi:
I don’t understand how breaking on 2
and having a step on one is done, I learned
Mambo in the 1950s, watching and taking
lessons from two couples that put on
shows and taught dancing in the Catskills
in the 50s and 60s.
I also was lucky enough to have seen
a stage show in 1953 with bands and
dancers that danced mambo on 2 and
held on 1, that is the only way I
can really feel the rhythm of mambo.
Joe
The On2 style is similar to Mambo. They both break on count 2. The difference is the pause or hold. In Mambo it’s on 1 and in NY Style Salsa the pause is on the 4.
I was taught with counts,.
Quick , Quick, Slow. The guy would step foward with the left on the first Quick. What style is that…..
That would would be salsa on 1 or LA style