My first On2 experience!

[SalsaManiac]

So I had a most interesting weekend in Santa Fe, New Mexico where a two day workshop for mambo (ET2) was held by a dance group from San Diego called Majesty In Motion. I had heard so much about dancing On2 (as well as reading up on schism between On1 & On2 dancers) that I figured this would be a great opportunity to finally start learning to dance On2 as a means to broaden my horizons.

Each day was a 4hr session broken up into 1hr segments with 10 minute breaks so I was tired as heck when it was all over. I had heard some interesting things about On2 which I really could not imagine coming from the On1 world but I was very surprised when I was actually dancing it. The first one is how the dancing feels rythmically smoother and this, I suppose, is tied to the second one which is that the dance feels less rushed because there is a little more room (i.e one extra beat) to play with.

Unfortunately, dancing On1 is so ingrained at this point that I kept on subconsciously switching back due to muscle memory. Looks like i'll simply have to force myself to dance On2 every opportunity I get so as to let it sink in (even if it does mean that people will be looking at me funny for some time while wondering why my dancing seems to have devolved). I was gonna ask what people around these parts did to help them refine dancing On2. Any specific tricks to learning how to remap moves from On1 to On2? Are there things that you can do in one style but not the other? Or will I simply have to learn On2 as-is ? I did some reading up on some of the Eddie Torres videos and was wondering if those would be recommended for someone starting with an On1 background.

Even though I do not think that the On2 bug will catch on here in New Mexico any time soon (due to the social climate and general mindset of dancers out here) , it is certainly something I would like to learn as I see myself dancing in various cities. Thx.

--T

 

[squirrel]

LOL Congrats for your first close encounter with on2... I love it! I am sure you'll learn to like it more and more each day.

 

[tangotime]

extra ?

Extra beat ?-- there are the same # !! --4 beats to the bar as in 4 / 4 . how one deploys them, is the defining character .

 

[Josh]

the dance feels less rushed because there is a little more room (i.e one extra beat) to play with.

--T

It's great that you're learning a new style... way to branch out! I used the Search button at the top and found these articles... hope they're helpful:

http://www.dance-forums.com/showthread.php?t=9923
http://www.dance-forums.com/showthread.php?t=10454
http://www.dance-forums.com/showthread.php?t=14127

Also, note that there is not an extra beat... it may feel this way, but the steps go in the same places, with the same weight changes, with the same music, only on different counts (albeit, with often a much different style, however).

 

[SalsaManiac]

My bad .. sorry for use of the wrong term. What I meant was that even though the count is still a 4/4 bar, I noticed that for certain moves such as a crossbody lead, the placement of the pause gives me a little extra time to execute it. I'll be sure to check out those other links too .. I still feel somewhat awkward because I have to concentrate so much on maintaining the step i.e muscle memory hasn't kicked in yet but as the Romans would say, "Aluta Contiunua!"

--T

 

[sweavo]

... the placement of the pause ...

Good rewording. I knew what you meant by the extra beat. My two main tip s for converting are

1) the 6 is what you used to do on 1.
2) you don't close your feet when you pause any more!

Good luck, have fun!

 

[Danish Guy]

1) the 6 is what you used to do on 1.
2) you don't close your feet when you pause any more!

I don’t close the feet when I’m dancing on 1. For me it seemed that it was something being told by some teachers to ease up the starting process.

The closed feet on the pause will remove the smoothness and flow making it more rugged and start/stopping.

I might be due to this I don’t see the light and get the on2 wow feeling. It only make me stressed

 

[Josh]

2) you don't close your feet when you pause any more!

? Most salsa dancers I see everywhere don't close the feet anyway.

 

[KiwiMambo]

The best way to refine On2 is to dance it a lot. It's like learning a 2nd language, the more you speak the better you get. If you have the opportunity to learn from a native speaker or visit the country then even better. That means learning from a New Yorker and visiting New York. Although not necessary, it helps a lot.

 

[tangotime]

k.m.

Learn from a n.yorker ???-- not wrong ---- but--- I could quote you scores of west coast teachers, mid west and southern who excel in the " original " style , and have forgotten more than many will ever know !. They,unlike most, do not go around touting their expertise, they just get on with it, and dance , and teach . And by the way, 95% of my students in fla were latinos who didnt have a clue !!!. There are good teachers in many cities, you just have to track them down , particularly in large metro areas .There is no single authority on expertise ,

 

[sweavo]

? Most salsa dancers I see everywhere don't close the feet anyway.

Hmm, maybe not in actual fact (though it happens a lot in low-level on1 dancing in the UK) but in the mind on1 you "STEP-and-return, STEP-and-return" whereas on2 you go "step-BANG-stepppp, step-BANG-stepppp..." so there is no longer the dead time on 4 and 8.

 

[Josh]

Hmm, maybe not in actual fact (though it happens a lot in low-level on1 dancing in the UK) but in the mind on1 you "STEP-and-return, STEP-and-return" whereas on2 you go "step-BANG-stepppp, step-BANG-stepppp..." so there is no longer the dead time on 4 and 8.

Neither I nor most people I know dance on1 with a 'dead time' on the 4 and 8. Yes, there is a pause, but it's the same type of pause that's there in on2 on 4 and 8. Few people that I know dance on1 with a huge sharp pause on 4 and 8 (save beginners), just as is the case in on2. In on2 (from leader's POV) the right foot is moving forward on the 4, and in on1, the right foot is moving back on the 4. The pause on2 comes on the "return", although the non-standing foot continues to move, and in on1 it comes on the "STEP", although the non-standing foot continues to move. There is always movement, although the pause still exists. Maybe some (or lots of) people don't dance on1 this way, but again, as boriken often says, smoothness or jerkiness or largeness or smallness or whatever is not a characteristic of the style, but of the dancer.

So for the timing, yes, there may be a tendency for beginners to make it not-so-smooth, but I think that's mostly because teachers show it that way (bugs me to death when a teacher demos a move the same way a beginner would do it, as this can be effective in some ways but I think it does more harm than good). But for the feet passing each other, I always show from class #1 the progressive basic (leader's L foot passes the R foot on 3, R foot passes the L on 7), as bringing the feet together just makes for a jerky look and inhibits body movement. I describe it as the man pursuing the lady and stopping when he has her all the way back, and the lady coming back at him and stopping when he's all the way back. It wouldn't have the same visual dynamic if he just stopped halfway in pursuit of her, or if she stopped halfway in her pursuit of him. So while I try to keep all my steps reasonably small, my step back on the L and forward on the R are the largest in terms of body travel. This only makes sense since we're breaking BACK on the 1 (as the leader) and FORWARD on the 5. That changing of direction causes us to travel more on the next movement.

Again sweavie, maybe there's a bit of a difference between US and UK, or just between different dancers... but the above is just from my perspective.