on2 guide for dummies (er...on1 dancers)

Q

quixotedlm

Active Member
I took a couple of on2 classes and I'm all over the floor. If I get my feet to do the right things, my arm/body leads are still doing it the on1 way, and if I keep my arms and body language in sync with on2, my feet degerate to on1. The learning curve sucks :(

How should I approach learning on2?
 
quixotedlm said:
I took a couple of on2 classes and I'm all over the floor. If I get my feet to do the right things, my arm/body leads are still doing it the on1 way, and if I keep my arms and body language in sync with on2, my feet degerate to on1. The learning curve sucks :(

How should I approach learning on2?
Click to expand...

Well, it's a very different style of salsa than on1, as I'm sure you know, so that's a whole other beast right? But, for the purposes of just getting your feet and leads in sync with the music...

If you've only had a "couple of on2 classes", then I would expect you to be "all over the floor." How about good old-fashioned practice? Not only physically, but also mentally see yourself dancing on the 2 to a song as you listen to it. It works, seriously--give it a try. ( see http://sport-psychology.com/custom2.html ) Get a song with a nice strong clave, and really feel it as you mentally practice. Then do it physically. Once it gets in your muscle memory, then lead some moves you already know. Your other muscles that you use for your lead will have fewer problems adjusting once your feet are automatic.
 
don't get all **** on yourself. do as josh says - put music on and do the stuff you'd normally do, on 2.
 
Learning a new dance feels easier than on2. It's akin to learning somethign fresh vs. unlearning habits to learn something right. Unlearning+relearning is always harder than mere learning.

The frustration for me isn't from the fact that on2 is new (just started learning AT and that isn't frustrating at all, though I do have to be patient with myself as a beginner). But with on2, it just feels like I'll never get it...

So I'm specifically looking for tips from those of you who made the switch from on1 to on2, and can speak about the things you did to keep your mind from falling into on1 habits.

It's a given that practise makes perfect, as Josh suggests. Of course I'm doing that, but there are things about on2 that are harder to 'get' coming from on1 world. For eg, the footwork/phase-shift isn't the only thing that's different. I get this feeling that the timing and urgency of the lead is distributed differently across the pauses in the 8 count cycle, and I'm not able to 'feel' this difference instinctively. Not sure that I'm conveying my thoughts here too well, but just throwing it out there to check if someone comprehends me magically :)
 
Any kind of dancing is like peeling an onion: the more you progress the more you realize you need to know. the more aware you become, the more critical you become of yourself, the more you challenge yourself....and on and on, it never seems to end, which is actually a good thing!

There are already a ton of material and threads about learning on2, so I would just suggest taking one layer of understanding at a time.

As they say "Rome was not built in one day" ;)
 
I also did the switch from on1, and there is certanly no easy way, in my case it all came down to practice practice practice, even now i take some 15 mim 3 times a week and just dance the basic and CBL, lead a right and left turn ( with an imaginary partner) on2 for the purpose of keeping my muscle memory going, given that I have to dance on1 often. I think slow-quick-quick-slow, I think smooth, control, softness and technique
 
My problem with learning to dance on2 has to do with when I'm coming out of a shine or if I stop stepping. The problem for me is picking up the step again and stepping forward on the one intead of back. The cowbell will mess me up sometimes too, it can be so dominating sometimes that I end up breaking on it and then of course I'm back on the one. So those are my demons.

Otherwise if I start on2, I have no problem. As far as the leads go, I don't see a difference if you make the lead when you step a particular way rather than thinking about the counts. My first step for a right side turn is still with my left foot breaking forward, same with the crossbody. The footwork doesn't really change, just the counts. Of course I haven't been dancing very long on2 so I may not know any better. If so someone will surely come along and let us know :)
 
your first issue will go away as you continue to practice-- alot --

I had/have serious problems doing the switch but this I have found out, saying that that the footwork does not change, only the counts (me being very guilty of this), misses the whole point of dancing on2, keep in mind that the footwork is probably 70% of the whole essence that distinguish on1 from on2, the other % being the whole smooth, flowy attitude that is brought to the dance. the quick quick slow motion is in sharp contrast to the quick, quick, pause of on1

for the sake of simplicity I believe is ok to simple change counts and continue with the footwork that was done on1, but the soonest you can get over the feeling of your body wanting to move in the "wrong direction", you should start working in the quick quick slow foot and body motion, learn to find the 2 make sure you are emphasizing the two, and de emphasizing the 1 beat.

as someone said before, take it in layers, the more you learn, and practice the more you will realize how far away you are from achieving the "native on2 movement".

I been training for a year, 6 months on1 and the last 6 months on2, I realize now more that my first day of training how much more I need to learn and practice, to dance at the level I want to be at. Is quite humbling experience when after 6 months into my training I realize I need to clean up my basic, and that my leading is not as precise as it should be, and that to dance with more advance followers I have to go to the basics I learned in the first day
 
I'm assuming ETon2. I also madethe switch.
My first suggestion would be to dance on1 for a bit longer but make sure you pay attention to all the beats in the music. Alot of on1 dancers only really listen to the 1-3-5-7.
Once you start paying more attention to the 2-4-6-8 then start doing the basic on2. Realize that you are still stepping on the same 6 beats as you were(or should have been) when dancing on1, you are simply doing different footwork.
As far as movements go, try and think about movements as coordinating the motion of your hands and arms with that of your body and feet, rather than associating it with a certain beat in the music.
When I was doing the switch I would spend 30 minutes a day doing the basic, on1, on2 and switching on command.

Incidently it wouldn't surprise me if ETon2 was originally concieved as a sort of bridge between on1 and on2. When dancing on2 I sometimes find myself stepping through the 8(4) and pausing on1(5) before breaking on2(6). This is happening a little bit more often everytime I go dancing.
 
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