Learn To Dance Salsa – A Breakdown Of The Two Most Popular Ways To Dance Salsa

Ever had someone ask you to dance immediately followed by the question “Do you dance On1? Or On2?” If you had no clue what they were talking about, hopefully I can help.

This may come as a surprise, but there is not just one way of dancing Salsa. There are actually many ways to dance Salsa. You may see Salsa danced completely different from country to country and sometimes even city to city.

Here in the United States, we have two very popular ways to dance Salsa. They are called Salsa On1 and Salsa On2. So what does that mean? I’m glad you asked.

Some clarification first

Neither style is technically better than the other. You will find both On1 dancer and On2 dancers who swear by one or the other. And to each his own. I happen to believe it’s good to know both styles as this will make you a more versatile dancer and able to dance with anyone, anywhere.

Before we talk about the differences of these two popular styles of Salsa, there are two things you must understand: timing and the break step.

Let’s begin with timing. Timing is the ability to coordinate your steps with the appropriate beats of music. A basic step in Salsa is completed over 8 beats of music or 2 bars of music (each bar contains 4 beats). That’s all you need to know for the moment.

Next, let’s discuss the break step. The break step is the step taken immediately before a direction change. For example, lets say I step forward with my right foot and then backward with my left foot. The break step would be the step I took with my right foot because it was the step immediately before I switched direction to go backward. Make sense?

How does timing and the break step work with different styles of Salsa? A great question. Let’s start by talking about the On1 style of Salsa.

When dancing Salsa On1, we have six steps and two holds. Our steps happen on counts 1,2,3 and 5,6,7 of our 8-beat bar and our holds happen on counts 4 and 8.

The basic step in Salsa On1 from the leader’s perspective looks like thisthe first step is forward on the left foot on count ‘1’. The next step is backward on the right foot on count ‘2’. The left foot comes together with the right foot on count ‘3’ and count ‘4’ is a hold with no step. Pop quiz time. Which step is the break step?

If you guessed count ‘1’ you are right! That was the step taken immediately before the direction was changed to a backward step.

Finishing up the basic step, the leader now steps back with the right foot on count ‘5’, forward with the left foot on count ‘6’, brings the right foot together in place with his left foot on count ‘7’ and holds count ‘8’ without stepping. Again, can you guess which step was the break step? If you guessed the step taken on count ‘5’, you are on fire!

So, we give Salsa On1 its name because of the count that the first break step happens on. In this case, it would be count ‘1’ so we call it Salsa On1.

Just like Salsa On1, we have six steps and two holds when dancing the basic step in Salsa On2. The counts are the same 1,2,3 and 5,6,7 except now, the footwork pattern is different.

Again from the leader’s perspective

On count ‘1’, the leader steps back with his left foot. On count ‘2’, the right foot steps back passing the left foot. On count 3, the left foot steps forward. Again, do you know which step was the break step?

If you guessed the step on count ‘2’, then you should really be out Salsa dancing right now instead of reading this article. You are absolutely right! That was the step taken before the forward direction change.

Now continuing, the leader holds count ‘4’ without taking a step. He then steps forward with his right foot on count ‘5’, forward again with his left foot on count ‘6’ passing his right foot. And finally he steps back with his right foot on count ‘7’ and holds count ‘8’. The basic step is complete. Here’s your last chance to impress me. You know the drill. Tell me which step was the break step.

If you guessed the step he took on count ‘6’, you pass! Because the first break step of the leader’s basic step is on count ‘2’ we call it Salsa On2 or dancing on2.

So which style is better to learn? Neither style is technically better than the other. You may prefer to learn the style that is prominent where you live. Or you may decide to learn both to become more versatile. I prefer the On2 style because it is danced more where I live, but I also enjoy dancing On1. I suggest you learn both styles and decide for yourself which one you prefer or if you like them both.

Good luck!