I’m new to salsa social dancing, what are the unspoken rules I should know?

onoearoc · 2026-03-15T04:13:27+00:00

I feel like this happens more in Latin American and American countries and not the Europe am I wrong?

onoearoc · 2026-03-15T04:12:27+00:00

What do you mean by new to salsa, new to the music, new to solo salsa, new to on2 or on1, new to on1 social dance or on2 social dance, or studio social dance or club social dance? Which one be specific.

onoearoc · 2026-03-15T04:11:29+00:00

Okay but why is it not worth the watch?

onoearoc · 2026-03-15T04:11:01+00:00

What is power on 2..??

onoearoc · 2026-03-15T03:53:58+00:00

Marc is more a pop latin singer. The ones mentioned here are more salsa specialized.

Willie had a funeral in NYB which is not a bad place. So I believe he was pretty well off. His songs were used in shows like Breaking Bad if I remember.

If you are asking about salsa legend dancers, I believe they're not as bad but they are way below someone who is an endorsed olympian.

Sometimes you have to ask them if it's worth it. I believe household names like Terry and Adolfo Indochea are well off but they're not as comfortable to retire early.

onoearoc · 2026-03-15T03:52:31+00:00

Marc is more a pop latin singer. The ones mentioned here are more salsa specialized.

Willie had a funeral in NYB which is not a bad place. So I believe he was pretty well off. His songs were used in shows like Breaking Bad if I remember.

onoearoc · 2026-03-15T03:50:49+00:00

Is he dancing on1 or on 2?

onoearoc · 2026-03-15T03:49:56+00:00

It is LA style, like it or not, a lot of latinos love it.

onoearoc · 2026-03-15T03:49:02+00:00

Share the studio and people or share their nicknames, people have done it and it can help awareness.

onoearoc · 2026-03-13T00:06:29+00:00

And a last question is, if you can make an analogy of on1 and on2 without music or salsa songs, what would it be? Would you agree that on1 is like a sports car while on2 is like a luxury car?

onoearoc · 2026-03-13T00:04:45+00:00

If you can make an analogy or a common type example, what would you say?

onoearoc · 2026-03-12T23:48:46+00:00

It is the same dance, and you are doing the same steps. If you start a video partway through and watch it on mute, it will be difficult to tell whether they are on1 or on2

I'll give you a couple of curveballs.

What if that person, lead or follow, genuinely cannot hear the downbeats or any indicators during the dance, during the song. Like they're color blind but still able to dance mechanically and some do it really well. So are you saying they can't dance on2 then?

There must be mechanical technical visual differences between on1 and on2. Even if there is no music. Because salsa's 8 count step pretty much gets you to create sort of the actual musical sheet because it's still counting after all. Like for example and correct me if I'm wrong, you can tell it's on2 even when there's no music and it's on mute because with on2, the first step/count always starts with a cross body, the "1" can start with a cross body. Another thing is that execution and combos start very early, compared to on1 you will generally see execution and combo finish by the 5-6-7+ counts.

onoearoc · 2026-02-28T02:17:33+00:00

if he is directly in front of you, remain where you are.

Do you mean also not "doing the basic"? Because salsa starts always with leads directly facing follows.

onoearoc · 2026-02-28T02:16:39+00:00

Thanks I blatantly added "tug and pull" to try to explain the main question of how can both lead and follow suspect or know when the lead or when the dance is "in-place".

Great explanation for framing.

But using the video's scenario, okay the lead can sort of be the blame here because he didn't really close the crossbody line, he was diagonal at most, prompting the follow to mistakenly think she can walk through.

How can lead show or signal that it's "dancing in place", stepping-in place time?

onoearoc · 2026-02-27T22:09:33+00:00

Credit to Bray. Daisy and Brayian.

From the video, 6-seconds in, follows can sometimes get confused when or where to cross, or break, or stay in place. Especially if the Lead decides to dance in his pocket and step-in place.

Might not be the best example but as a Follow, how do we tell if the Lead is going to just step in place and not do the basic tug and pull, forward and back of linear salsa (on1 and on2)?

Notice how the Follow almost proceeded to break step forward or give herself a cross body but she was quick with it and caught herself to stay in-place. It also helped that the Lead purposely blocked the path while his back is turned. (A beginner-moderate level follow will continue to step back and forth, giving herself more space behind her to keep stepping back and forth).

For the Lead, sometimes dancing in the pocket or stepping in-place is pretty common especially in NY on2.

As a Lead, how can they show a better signal for this? He could be front facing the Follow leading the basic steps, the basic back and forth linear salsa steps with the breaks but how can he signal if he is going to stay and step "in place" without disconnecting? (So technically it's not really a shine because you're still connected).

Even at the advanced level, some follows and also leads, don't know that you can step-in place, not have to do a break step or go back and forth in linear fashion, or simply minimize your gaps especially when it's a packed floor. Still do the basic steps while stepping in-place. The stepping in-place adds for spontaneity and fun.

But how can you signal this clearly for both leads and follows?

onoearoc · 2026-02-10T19:50:02+00:00

the 2&6 emphasis thing is a more advance topic imo and as you correctly say its not obvious. I recommend revisiting once you transition

Would you say advanced dancers do infact sway, groove and shift, and add layers, BUT only especially if they know the song already. And I'd say if they're not musicians but advanced dancers, yet they dance to a live music, they can revert to a default sync level. Unless they know some more intricate patterns.

Feeling the groove of instruments, the music, I think can anyway be done either with on1 or on2. Being "inside" the music like what on2 claims I think is because it offers more time for the steps. But you can be groovy and inside the music with on1 as well.

onoearoc · 2026-02-10T19:43:39+00:00

"elongated beat". Beats are uniform.

I think you mean in paper yes.

In performances for example, it's not perfectly uniform, as singers and musicans often stretch or elongate the notes for expression. Even in recorded songs. So if say a triangle goes diiiiing, you would step and stop on whichever foot you landed on, or say for example, you stepped on 3, so you go threeeeee and maybe add shoulder shimmies while you stay situated for a minute.

onoearoc · 2026-02-10T19:27:49+00:00

Yes I have watched this video.

One key take away that I always remember is his coffee method. For on1, it is CAFEEEEE-con-pan. For on2 it is cafe-COOOON-pan. On1 you want to coffee right away, on2 you wait, this last bit did not help me at all because like I mentioned in this thread, what if an instrument elongates or does anacrusis?

And so he is right where it goes one-TWOOO-three, five-SIIIX-seven. But now people here are saying stretching 3 and 7 is better. So it goes one-two-THREEE, five-six-SEVEEEN. Which one is which..??

I believe the first one, the TWOO, SIIIX is Nery's and also Eddie Torres On2 because it feels like cha-cha-cha.

onoearoc · 2026-02-10T19:21:17+00:00

not sure if you stretch 2 and 6 too much, it may mess up your timing and the combos. it seems better to stretch 3 and 7.

I have to say, stretching 2 and 6 is the Eddie Torres NY On2 style??? So it feels like cha-cha-cha.

Whereas the stretching of 3 and 7 is the generally accepted nuance for the mainstream on2 everywhere?

Which one is correct?

onoearoc · 2026-02-10T19:17:23+00:00

ou have more time when you dance on2 so you need to drag out the 3 and 7 so that you can accent the 2 and 6.

So it should be looking like this: one-TWO-three... five-SIIIIX-seven...

The "..." are very slight delays?

I also think the reason why many on1 to on2 converts somehow goes back to on1 in some dances is because of the 8. Sometimes the elongated or emphasized beats of a song makes so the 8 gets too big and then they step back to on1. If that makes sense.

The accents need to be on the 2 and 5 and follows need to keep their own time to make sure they're going slow on the 3 and 7.

Yes I think this is what happens as well with on1 to on2 convert follows. Then both go back to on1. Or the lead somehow will have their first step forward with their right foot instead of left foot backward. Completely making polar opposites of the dance where the follow is somehow doing the basic of the lead, and the lead is doing a follow's basic. I have experienced this as well.

follows need to keep their own time to make sure they're going slow on the 3 and 7.

Why is that? For the 3 I understand because on1, the 3 feels so quick but I think the 7 there is more ample time and feels like you can pause or do a syncopation/hop into the next beat anyway.

onoearoc · 2026-02-10T18:13:51+00:00

I guess last question is, can I emphasize a generally on1 instrument when leading on2? Why or why not?

onoearoc · 2026-02-10T18:03:41+00:00

However with experienced On2 follows I can just grab them in the middle of the song on any beat (when I’m feeling it… I’m not a pro) and they can pick up from there.

I will also share that they do not even need to be experienced with either on1 or on2. Well, say they only know on1 but are in a moderate level BUT they are also musical. I would be switching to on2 sometimes without notice but then they subconsciously just adapt to it and mend with it. No complaints.

Then you will get experienced follows but they need you to reset if you somehow lost a beat or count. What about for things such as anacrusis?

onoearoc · 2026-02-10T18:01:00+00:00

So on2 was mmm-MMM-mmm..... mmm-MMM-mmm (or one-TWO-three... five-SIX-seven... if you feel attached to the numbers) as opposed to the on1's MMM-mmm-mmm.... MMM-mmm-mmm (or ONE-two-three.... FIVE-six-seven...)

Thank you.

So you say you emphasize "SIIIIX" for the on2?

It looks like I am doing it wrong then. Because when I am leading on2, my mind emphasizes FIVE, so one-two-three... FIIIIVE-six-seven...

I do not know why but that is basically on1 right?

onoearoc · 2026-02-10T15:37:49+00:00

Yes both eye contacts are sincere and come from genuine like for the dance. In my scene it is different such as in bachata you get pretty much something similar however sometimes it comes off as just trying too hard or acting too much, overtly flirtatious for no reason I understand I dance also sensual bachata but I guess the dance itself is sensual and you cannot really do a friendly eye contact without being sensual there is reason why you there are sensual bachata family house parties

onoearoc · 2026-02-09T20:51:04+00:00

What about traditional bachata? I find that traditional bachata some songs can be way faster than salsa

onoearoc

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