Stay on1 vs. Transition on2 vs. Keep both!

D

Dadada486

New Member
Really want a good answer from some long-time salseros who also faced this dilemma.

I have been dancing on1 Cross body salsa for a while, started 5 years ago but two of those years had no dancing due to other priorities and covid. I'm therefore far from good, and would say I'm intermediate. I recently went to a salsa congress and decided to give on2 a go, and now my thinking is as follows:

Stay Dancing on1
- My salsa on1 is far from perfect. Because I'm also a bachata and kizomba dancer, I don't spend as much time on salsa already. I should continue improving my on1 salsa until I'm at least advance before transitioning
- most follows in my dance scene dance on1. On2 has more of an enthusiast following. More importantly, most SBK and 50/50 type events have more on1 dancers.
- I feel like if I transition to on2 now, my on1 will suffer, and I end up being hood at neither, though I don't know if this true

Transition to on2
- started a few classes on2 and feel like I can get into it. The feeling is quite different, largely because of when you prepare and when your turn.
- most advance dancers transition to on2. Hate to say, that this is an unavoidable truth. All the best dancers in my scene dance on2
- on2 classes in most clubs are only offered to advance dancers further supporting the above.
- I heard dancing on2 improves your overall dancing, particularly your musicality and appreciation of the instruments.
- Dance festivals and salsa congresses favor on2. They try to offer both but it is obvious there are more on2 classes than on1

Keep Both
- I don't know how realistic or easy it is. Again, I'm thinking both styles will suffer as a result. However, I could potentially take classes in both and just see how this influences my dancing.
- I heard it is best to maybe dance one as your primary style and only change if you need to i.e. If your follow only dances and aks for the other style.

Any advice and suggestions from salseros here would be highly appreciated!

Thanks,
 
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Dadada486 said:
...decided to give on2 a go..
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Which on2 do you mean? NY2 and PR2 actually are quite different animals!
Dadada486 said:
..on2 classes in most clubs are only offered to advance dancers..
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As there are much more on1 teachers around than on2, competition forces them to offer on2. This is the reason why on2 seems more advanced, but it isn't. Simply find a good on1 teacher, perhaps LA1 style.
Dadada486 said:
..heard dancing on2 improves your overall dancing, particularly your musicality and appreciation of the instruments..
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I do not agree, it depends on the quality of teaching again.
 
I feel that on1 is really the mainstream and I feel like on2 it's just a different dance. I don't try to treat them as the same dance. I can do on2, but I'm just not that dedicated to try to develop it more since I have been doing on1 for such a long time. I think the most important factor is just what you enjoy doing the most. But I don't feel like doing both is such a great idea, but there are teachers who can do that.
 
Most experienced salser@s can dance both on1 and on2. Once you are used to them both it should not be difficult to switch between them. Learning on2 will not hurt your on1 and it will open up your range of enjoyable partners.

If the better dancers in your scene all dance on2, that's a strong argument for learning it. Otherwise you will hit a ceiling on your development much sooner. It gets harder to develop further once you are past the level of your most skilled dance partners.
 
Most advance salseros can do both timings but in my experience prefer Salsa on 2. It is a bit more rhythm centric and "feels" better when you dance to most Caribbean salsa music tunes. However Salsa on 2 is a more difficult style to learn because of that reliance on the "tumbao". You will find those dedicated salseros in most states. In Utah it has been at Df dance studio for a while. People however do dance on both if asked to!
 
russianwithin said:
Most advance salseros can do both timings but in my experience prefer Salsa on 2. It is a bit more rhythm centric and "feels" better when you dance to most Caribbean salsa music tunes. However Salsa on 2 is a more difficult style to learn because of that reliance on the "tumbao". You will find those dedicated salseros in most states. In Utah it has been at Df dance studio for a while. People however do dance on both if asked to!
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Yes, I think more developed salsa scenes also have more on2 dancers. I also feel like most people generally learn on1 first, and then they should graduate and find out the rhythm of on2 is more interesting. The places I go don’t have a very developed scene and I don’t see too many dancers dancing on2.
 
Be advised - I have danced On1 for a long time and am only more recently learning On2, so I am quite biased..

Frame, resistance, body awareness, weight transfer between feet (yours and your partner's), balance, understanding the points of connection (in and out of hold), navigating the dance floor, and of course musical timing are essential to understand in Salsa.

You likely have the capability for these traits due to your Kizomba and Bachata experience, but these dances require different levels of the above that need to be learned in Salsa.

Developing those skills is easier when dancing On1 due to more opportunities for practice since it is so popular. You may find yourself in teaching mode or sitting a lot, if you're only comfortable with On2.

As you (and others have said), the strongest salseros dance On2. Your floor craft will have to be top notch to protect your partner and yourself from accidents because most of the those around you will literally be dancing to a different beat. Your ability to make solid connections in flight will also important for not causing/receiving injuries at higher speeds. There are so many fundamentals that should be probably be understood before trying to take it to the next level that I think it's worth considering getting stronger in On1 before going to On2.
 
Pryn said:
..As you (and others have said), the strongest salseros dance On2..
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But this argument still is extremely evident, but not for everyone, of course. When I started dancing salsa, the NY on2 community was a small, elitist island. And the most important thing for me as a leader at the time was that the most attractive, youngest and most ambitious girls gathered there.
The on1 scene, on the other hand, is a huge continuum that follows the fission-fusion rule. People meet up across the region, but also have their own core group in small studios, in sports clubs or in the meeting places of the respective immigrant communities. Social dancing, codigos and floorcraft are at the heart of the on1 scene, but the artistry of the NY amateurs is not achieved on average.

The most important thing: all these are sociological and psychological observations. The decision on1 vs. on2 has nothing to do with musicality or tumbao, easier or harder.
 
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DanceMentor said:
Yes, I think more developed salsa scenes also have more on2 dancers. I also feel like most people generally learn on1 first, and then they should graduate and find out the rhythm of on2 is more interesting. The places I go don’t have a very developed scene and I don’t see too many dancers dancing on2.
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It is also a lot more difficult to switch from on 1 to on 2. It took me several months of dedicated practices to do it when I was already very familiar with salsa on 1. So it makes sense that people start this later and only if they are motivated by mastery.
 
russianwithin said:
It is also a lot more difficult to switch from on 1 to on 2. It took me several months of dedicated practices to do it when I was already very familiar with salsa on 1. So it makes sense that people start this later and only if they are motivated by mastery.
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Yes, I think when your body is trained to do it a certain way it takes some concentration to switch over. I never got really good at dancing on2 but is something I might explore again in the future. I’m going to try to do a vacation to Tokyo and Seoul sometime next year. I’m pretty sure they have plenty of people dancing on2 there.
 
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