Did any of these timings surprise you? Let me know what you learned in the comments!

Very clear explanations 😊

So well done/explained. Thanks for the Beat Machine link as well!

Thanks for your great videos explaining timing and all sorts of forms you can dance on given the 8 beats, the clave and all the other instruments. In my country which is Curacao, the vast majority of people dance on 3 but with a nice twist. The male breaks underneath his body (center) on 1&2 and slightly moves forward with his right foot on 3, left on 4 underneath his body, 5&6 right foot underneath his body, left slightly backwards on 7, right on 8 underneath his body starting again with 1&2 underneath the body with the left foot. This means that from a technical point of view we dance on the 3 with the right foot forward which is somewhat the opposite from what the vast majority of the world does. That we had a different basic than the rest of the world was first discovered during the very first World Salsa Congress in Puerto Rico back in 1997. The ‘why’ we dance this way is based on the way we, from a cultural point of view, dance bolero. In the bolero we follow the base starting with the left from the center (underneath the body) on 1&2. Also we have a rhythm called ‘Tumba’ where we also initiate the dancing on 1&2 left center. So when we started dancing salsa, we just did the same thing. Explaining you this you can add 1 more style to your list of 9. The 10th will be ‘The Curacao Style’.

So helpful, thank you! As a follow, I literally just follow the lead but I'm working on training my own ear so I can identify the different timings people like to dance on. On1 and On 2 are easy for me to spot but the others still feel "off beat" to me, so I just focus on the lead and don't count in my head at all if it feels like it's a less-often danced count. :)

Thank you. I love your channel..

great video thanks a lot. I lived in ecuador for a while and a lot of people were dancing on 3 so now it all makes sense!

Your explanations were amazing! Thanks a lot ❤😊

I'm learning L.A. Style and New York Style in my School at the same time and I can feel the difference between On1 and On2! First Lesson of New York was about Congas and Cowbell, very interesting....

I feel so glad that i bumped into your channel! Thank you so much very enlightening video & helpful!

Great explanations on a great topic! Most of the videos on my channel this year have dealt with some of these timing issues.

BRO!!!!!!! MIND FREAKING BLOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW man ... what a good video... I've been dancing for like 20 years now and I don't think I ever really understood the beats and the counts until now... I mean logically I understood what people were telling me... but viscerally and intuitively it didn't make sense... but you explanation clarified and connected the dots for me... the dancing to the clave... that was on point! when I saw you dance to the clave it made sense in my body.. .like I could feel the music dancing on clave... and that made it easier to isolate the instruments for contra tiempo.... very cool bro.. thank you! Will practice and then put it into practice and see how it goes!!! If come to Miami le us know!!!!!!!!

Great explanation! Thank you

Thanks for this musicality lesson

Thank you very much Dojo.

Woooow, super helpful!

Such a safe learning environment :)

Thank you! Very informative, as a new dancer I did not realize how important musicality for dancers. This will help!

Nice man , well explained.

Wow. For shines it’s very useful.

More complexities Muchissimas gracias!! Domo arigato!!

First time I heard the clave explained like this. So much simpler then how I learned it!! I don’t dance to the clave much because I kept forgetting the right way to do it but I’m going to do it all the time now.

This is an amazing explanation wow. There aren't many resources explaining these things on the internet. How/where did you learn this?

Thank you Robin for the splendid explanation of the different Salsa timings. I myself been dancing Salsa Socially for a couple of years and I enjoy it a lot. Social clubs that I go have DJs , most of time are not the Big bands type of Salsa music. It is hard to discern the different instruments where I can connect with On2 timing. Therefore I dance On1 timing.

Very interesting.

Awesome. I think as a new dancer, i keep trying to stick to 1 but some songs enunciate certain instruments more than other songs and i accidently pick up breaking on 2 or even 3. Part way through the song i hear the 1 and get confused, but maybe if I do some exercises switching between them i can feel more comfortable dancing to any beat

Hello! Great video with lots of well explained information! Thank you so much! May I ask the name of the application you are using to conduct the rhythm (adding the cowbell / conga / piano etc) seems really helpful!

This is the best video I came across on the subject. A video you may have done already but I never found is an analysis of a sequence done by the champs and I do you "read" in terms of timing and steps. I found it amazing difficult to see the steps and timing when watching the pros.

I dance on 3 much more than on 2. I enjoy it when I'm bored or not in love with the song. I find it works well to cumbia songs and in Havana I dance casino with a lot of older women on 3. But I focus on and emphasize the 1, vs thinking 345 781.

Thanks! I enjoyed the video very much. Quick (and possibly dumb!) question: I wasn't sure if you were dancing as a lead or a follow in some of the segments?

Thank you for this update. I wish you could have done this video with a partner ti better emphasize which style breaks forward or backwards when dancing on2 as a lead & follow would.

Thank you very much for this amazing video, I can only dance on1 but dabbled a bit on2 when I was younger. I have one question, the timing of the "moves" follows the break steps, right? So if a couple were dancing on2 and you didn't look at their feet, you can't really tell whether they dance a tiempo or contratiempo? I don't know if I was clear haha. Thanks!

Your explanation is very clear. I only have one question: how is this with a partner (in each timing)? For example: in NY style the male starts backwards, not forwards (being in a couple, in free steps is how you showed it)

This is the single greatest video of all time. 🕐🕑🕒❤🕔🕕🕖❤

One thing I'd like to know more about is when do we break forward or back when dancing with a partner, On 1 as a lead I would break forward on the 1 but On 2 my forward break is on the 6. Is there a specific expectation about this in different timings/styles/regions?

I learned too much in this video, I was looking for On2 clarification and when you explained it, I lost what I thought I knew. I thought that your "On2" was the only example where you started with your right foot. I was expecting your left foot to break back and right to break forward but not hating just explaining my confusion. Keep up the good work, appreciate you and your team..

I'm doing Crosbody contratempo , but the tutor taught us to step one in the centre & the left foot goes back of the man & the woman goes forward . So I find it confusing when I do Cuban Salsa on 1 and then go back to Xbody then the tutor says Im dancing too fast & should slow down. I find it natural dancing to the Conga or clave.

+1

So on2 a tiempo is the same as shifting the basic step by one count. Seems like a very confusing way to dance! I'll stick to on1 cuban and on2 contratiempo (son)!

At least in ZUS 1950 to 60, many books (& teachers?) taught in 2 or on 4, but neither side acknowledged the other.

Dancing on3 is actually not a mistake. It's very intentional. Do some research on Changui. Dancing on3 is not about feeling the 3 nor is it about the cowbell. It's about feeling the 1.... as a slow accent. The stronger and more drawn out the 1 beat is, the more likely it is for someone to dance on 3. Salsaton has a more on3 feel. Timba with a changui feel is danced in Cuba on3. Changui itself is a predecessor to Son and is itself dancing on3 with a slight syncopation to one of the steps. American style ballroom rumba is on3. If you dance salsa to hip hop or pop music, most of the time it feels better on 3. Just like Son is about accenting the 4 as a slow rather than accenting the 2 as a quick even though in Son you step 234, 678. Cuban dancers refer to Son as dancing on4 rather than dancing on2. Cuban dance is more about accenting the slow beats rather than the quick beats. But other salsa is about accenting the quick beats hence NYon2 or LA on1.

Hands down. The #1 reason I have trouble going to social dancing, is that I don't know when a song is danced in what timing. How would I know? Why would I choose one over another? Is there musicality what dictates it? It's hard to digest.

How about dancing on3, but still phrasing your dancing on 1? That is: right pause left right left pause right left.

ᑭᖇOᗰOᔕᗰ 😣