by: Mikko Kemppe

Have you ever wondered why one salsa dancer seems to take salsa dance steps one way while another takes them a complete different way. Well, let me clear up any confusion you might have.

First of all, there are many different styles of salsa dancing: Puerto Rican Style, New York Style, Miami Style, Colombian Style, LA Style, Cuban Style, and some even claim Aussie Style and London Style. However, no matter what style of salsa you dance all salsa dance steps and styles can be categorized into two main categories: On1 & On2.

This means that no matter what style of salsa you dance, all of the styles emphasize either the first beat of the music or the second, and thus the names On1 and On2.

When you dance salsa On1, emphasizing the first beat of the music, the leader generally steps with his/her left foot while the follower steps with his/her right foot on the first beat of the music, like in the LA style, Cuban Style, and Colombian Style. Depending on which of these styles you dance, the leader either takes the step forward like in LA style or back like in the Cuban Rueda style. In either case, both men and women emphasize the first beat of the music.

When dancing On2, however, men and women emphasize the second beat of the music. Another way to explain this is to consider whether someone is breaking On2 or On1, meaning whether someone changes his or her body’s direction on the first or the second beat of the music.

When dancing On2 Puerto Rican Style, for example, the leader steps forward with his left foot on the second beat of the music and steps back on the sixth beat of the music. On contrast, when dancing New York Style the steps are reversed, while rhythmically speaking the emphasis stays the same beats. That is to say, a leader steps forward on the sixth beat of the music and back on the second.

Hopefully, this will at least give you the outline to recognize whether someone is dancing On1 or On2. And so the next time you see someone taking salsa dance steps that you cannot recognize, make sure you have considered what style and which beat are they on before judging them.