Salsa Dancing and The Three Types of Followers

Salsa dancing Brooklyn.

Dance classes in Brooklyn. Ray and Stephanie salsa dancing.

Salsa followers can be broken down into three types: 1)passive 2)active and 3)mischievous.

A passive salsa follower does what the leader wants.  Only that, and nothing else.  Take her into a cross body lead and she will follow, but with no styling at all.  She follows all your salsa steps, but doesn’t add anything additional to the dance.  Most beginner salsa dancers are passive followers.

An active salsa follower will add some flair.  She will comb and whip her hair, do arm and hand styling, and shoulder shimmies.  She is taking an active part in the salsa dancing.  She is following just like the passive follower, but is adding her own flair.  When you see a salsa dance class labeled as a women’s styling class, they are trying to turn passive followers into active followers.

A mischievous follower knows the step that you are leading her into, can do it if she wants to, but chooses not to.  She does something else that works, but not exactly what you wanted.  For example, if you lead a peek-a-boo step, instead of stopping when you want her to, she’d duck under and turn out.  If you lead a copa with a turn and a half, she might keep spinning more than you expected.  If she knows there is a break in the music, she will hit it even if you weren’t going to.  In order to be a mischievous follower, you have to be very good at following and know the music very well.

When salsa dancing, a leader should be accommodating to all  three types of salsa followers.  If a woman has just started salsa dancing, she will most likely be a passive  follower.  If she has taken some salsa dance lessons for a few months she may have developed into an active follower. You find active followers at most salsa dance schools socials.  If she has put her time in, practiced, taken lots of private salsa lessons, gone salsa dancing all over and really gotten good, she may be a mischievous follower.

 

Difference between salsa on1 and on2

 Salsa studios Brooklyn. Dance Fever Studios salsa class.  The premier salsa dance studio in  Brooklyn.

Salsa lessons in Brooklyn at Dance Fever Studios.

I have heard so many bad explanations of this from salsa dancers and also,  even teachers,  that I need to write this.  The only difference between salsa on1 and on2 is the beat you are breaking on.  On1 you break forward on the 1st beat in the measure of the music.  On2 you are breaking on the 2nd beat in the music.  This is the difference.  There aren’t any different steps, or better steps in on1 or on2.  You can do all the same steps.  There aren’t any different shine in on1 or on2.  You can do all the same shines.   One isn’t better or worse than the other.  There are just as many great on1 dancers as on2.

On1,  the first two beats are quick quick.  You pause or hold the 3rd and 4th beat.  On2,  the 2nd and 3rd beats are the quick quick.  You pause on the 4 and 5.  That’s the slow.   So in on1, the first part of your basic is within the measure of music.  On2, you split the measure of music in your basic.  The pause is between two measures.

Now, on2 has two ways of starting.  You can just break straight  forward with the leader’s left on the 2nd beat, or the leader breaks back with his left foot, then breaks back again with his right foot on the 2nd beat.  The first way the leader is breaking forward on the 2 and back on the 6.  The second way, the leader is breaking forward on the 6 and back on the 2.

If you really want to be good, learn how to do both on1 and on2.   This will really develop your timing and musicality.   Once you learn both, you will understand what I am talking about.  Take a look at the attached Youtube link to see on1 and on2 basics demonstrated.  You can see more video on our Youtube chanel.

Improving your salsa dancing

Salsa dance studios Brooklyn.  Dance Fever Studios is a top Brooklyn salsa studio.

Salsa class in Brooklyn at Dance Fever Studios.

Improving your salsa dancing

Here are some tips to help both leaders and followers become good salsa dancers.  1)THE MUSIC is number one when you dance.  Listen to it.  It has two parts: rhythm and melody.  First, concentrate on the rhythm or beat.  You must dance to this beat, or there is no way you will become a good dancer.  You actually want to feel as though you are dancing behind the beat.  Even fast salsa music, when you get really good, is not that fast;  so don’t rush.  Stay with the tempo.   The majority of beginner salsa dancers tend to rush the tempo.  They are ahead of the beat.  A good way to slow yourself down is to practice salsa basics to cha cha music.   Just leave out the cha cha.  This will definitely slow you down.   If you are dancing to one tempo,  and your partner’s on a different tempo,  there is no way you will have a good time.  This is the single most important thing.  The melody or the tune is the second part of the music.  This is a lot harder to dance to, and will only come with lots of experience and knowing the music.  Eventually, you want to dance to both.

2)BODY MECHANICS: Each type of dance has a specific way of moving.  If you don’t move that specific way, you won’t look good dancing to that music.  You can’t dance salsa and look like a tango dancer or ballet dancer.  It doesn’t look right.  You need to have that salsa look and feel.   There are a lot of elements that make a salsa dancer look like a salsa dancer.  Two of the most important are Cuban motion and the figure eight.  You can see these two things explained and demonstrated on our Youtube chanel.   You need to have both motions wired to look and dance salsa well.  Do not spend another second learning a new “advanced step” before you have these motions down pat. Salsa dancing isn’t salsa dancing without these two motions.

3)Stay in your DANCE CIRCLE.  If you stand on one leg and allow the free leg to naturally hang down so that it just touches the floor, then make a circle with that free leg around your body without any stretch, this is your dance circle.  Stay in it when you dance.  This will make sure that your steps are the right size.  Large steps are a not good. You should be dancing with your body and not your legs.  The body moves the legs and not the other way around.   Smaller steps will also help your balance.

4)DON’T GRAB.  You want to be connected to each other with a very light touch.   The leader is not there to be your balance beam.  You don’t want to grab  on to him on every other step.  If you have trouble with your balance don’t wear 6 inch heels.  Wear flats until you are able to dance in heels.  And for the leaders.  You aren’t doing judo.  A good leader doesn’t need to throw the woman around.  You should be able to led a good follower in almost every step with one finger.  When you are leading and following the right way, it will take almost no effort.  The wrong way, and it feels like a wrestling match.

5)DANCE at each others ABILITY.   A great leader when dancing with a beginner, will only do steps she can do.  Taking her into steps that are beyond her ability is bad leading.  If you haven’t danced with a woman before, build the dance.  Start with easy stuff, and get more and more advanced.  Don’t do a cross body lead with a turn before you have led her in a simple cross body.  This is building the dance.  If you’re an advanced follower, and you agree to dance with some beginner guy, don’t expect him to be Johnny Mambo.

6)ADVANCED DANCERS:  Dance with people who are better than you.  This is true for any field.  Want to raise your chess game or boxing skills, you’re not going to do it with people at a kindergarten level.  This is sometime hard to so since advanced dancers usually have no interest in dancing with beginners.  So the best way to do this is by taking privates.  With one on one instruction, you can work on all your problem areas at your own pace and get out of any bad habits and be prevented from developing any new ones.

7)PERFECT PRACTICE.  Practice makes perfect is one of the most untrue phrases I have ever heard.  Practice all day long the wrong way, and you will do it the wrong way.  Go to the golf range and see all the golfers practicing their bad swings and never getting any better.  They are just enforcing that bad swing.  This is a problem with many dancers.  They get in bad habits and dance with other dancers who have the same bad habits.  Grabbing, steps too large, rushing the timing, poor body mechanics is no way to dance.  When you learn something, make sure you learn it exactly the right way,  and practice it exactly the right way.  If you don’t, you are only enforcing bad habits.   Remember, only perfect practice make perfect.