Right turn on1, when do I start leading the turn?

[Renux]

Ok, the man lifts his hand on 3 to signal there is a right turn coming.

My question is, does he start leading the turn on 5?

Or does he waits and let her step forward on 5, and starts leading the turn on 6?

I always thought it is on 5, but I started practicing with a girl who is brand new to salsa, she was getting confused, and so I changed to 6, but last night I went out dancing and noticed that girls were getting confused by my leading the right turn on 6, and so now I am confused :confused:

[Leonid Turetsky]

That is a great question!

The way I explain and teach this is:
The man's job is to provide a clear, timely lead on "3". Like you said he raises his arm up and slightly to the left.

Then, its is lady's job to do the turn on her own starting on 5, with the leader just supporting her through the turn. Sometimes the leader may give a bit of a finishing touch starting on the count "&" between 5 and 6. But main leading happens on "3" right before the turn.

Hope it helps.

[nucat78]

I lead to my left on 5, then my forward on 6, and 7 takes her around.

Disclaimer - salsa is my second weakest dance.

[Josh]

Lead the turn on 5 after you have completed your own weight change and thus led her to change her weight to her left foot. If you wait until 6, she will be off of her left foot and it will be too late.

[PsychoSalsaGuy]

Generally in class, I find it more helpful to tell the guys to lead the girls to turn on beat 6. In my experience, most interpret the phrase "on 5" as before beat 5, or more accurately, make the girls do the movement before that beat, so in this context, it is on beat 6, not on beat 5.

If you tell them that you want them to lead the girls on beat 5, they will lead the girls before beat 5.

If want to be completely accurate, then you lead the move after she puts her foot down on beat 5 and before she starts to move her feet at beat 6, or in other words after beat 5. It's just easier to say "beat 6."

Now this is by the numbers but a far more accurate answer to the OP is to lead by feel, lead her to turn to her right when she comes forward immediately after she commits her weight to the left foot. Leading this way will enable you to lead every woman so SHE feels comfortable, no matter if she is a beginner in class or an expert in the clubs, and whether or not she dances on1 or on2. This of course is difficult and can only be learned with lots of practice.

The way I explain and teach this is:
The man's job is to provide a clear, timely lead on "3". Like you said he raises his arm up and slightly to the left.

Then, its is lady's job to do the turn on her own starting on 5, with the leader just supporting her through the turn. Sometimes the leader may give a bit of a finishing touch starting on the count "&" between 5 and 6. But main leading happens on "3" right before the turn.
Sounds like you are teaching the women to back lead. How do you get the girls turn to the left? Raise the hand slightly to the right on 3? What if you have different hand holds? What if you need to lead a left turn while holding both hands? How do you differentiate the lead for a right turn from a left turn? There absolutely must be a clear lead, an indication of direction in which you want her to turn.

I teach that women are responsible for their turns too, but they do not execute the turn until the guy leads it. The guy must still indicate a time and direction. You don't force her, but you do indicate a direction. You lead the RT after beat 5 and the LT after beat 6. If the girls jump right into the RT then you can't ever make her turn to the left.

Raising the girl's hand is not a lead. It's ONLY and indication of CHANGE. It alerts the girl that something different is about to happen, but she doesn't know what. She has a clue that a turn is coming, but she doesn't know if it's her turn or the guy's turn, and she doesn't know the direction.

[Leonid Turetsky]

Well, I am all about giving good INDICATIONS! And I did mention that you can as well lead on 5 "&" 6...that would be helping the lady turn...but you'd still have to raise the arm on "3"...that's the first thing that many guys miss from my experience.

Secondly, Double HH leads would be same idea with little more help with left arm......left turns is totally different lead...

Generally in class, I find it more helpful to tell the guys to lead the girls to turn on beat 6. In my experience, most interpret the phrase "on 5" as before beat 5, or more accurately, make the girls do the movement before that beat, so in this context, it is on beat 6, not on beat 5.

If you tell them that you want them to lead the girls on beat 5, they will lead the girls before beat 5.

If want to be completely accurate, then you lead the move after she puts her foot down on beat 5 and before she starts to move her feet at beat 6, or in other words after beat 5. It's just easier to say "beat 6."

Now this is by the numbers but a far more accurate answer to the OP is to lead by feel, lead her to turn to her right when she comes forward immediately after she commits her weight to the left foot. Leading this way will enable you to lead every woman so SHE feels comfortable, no matter if she is a beginner in class or an expert in the clubs, and whether or not she dances on1 or on2. This of course is difficult and can only be learned with lots of practice.


Sounds like you are teaching the women to back lead. How do you get the girls turn to the left? Raise the hand slightly to the right on 3? What if you have different hand holds? What if you need to lead a left turn while holding both hands? How do you differentiate the lead for a right turn from a left turn? There absolutely must be a clear lead, an indication of direction in which you want her to turn.

I teach that women are responsible for their turns too, but they do not execute the turn until the guy leads it. The guy must still indicate a time and direction. You don't force her, but you do indicate a direction. You lead the RT after beat 5 and the LT after beat 6. If the girls jump right into the RT then you can't ever make her turn to the left.

Raising the girl's hand is not a lead. It's ONLY and indication of CHANGE. It alerts the girl that something different is about to happen, but she doesn't know what. She has a clue that a turn is coming, but she doesn't know if it's her turn or the guy's turn, and she doesn't know the direction.