So You Want To Take Your Social Dancing To The Next Level?

Learning to dance Salsa On 2 opened the door to me really raising my game as a social dancer.

My Mambo private lesson packages won’t be for everyone, but for those who are a little bored and stale in their social dancing, and serious about expanding their dance floor skills it may be exactly what you need.

I don’t really think of this being a “transition” to dancing On 2.

I think it’s more accurate to call it an expansion.

It’s true that many dancers, having got over the initial teething period, they do prefer the feel of dancing this way, but are fluent in both styles and both timings and can switch whenever they choose.

The Truth About Learning Salsa On 2

Making changes and raising your game is never easy.

But it always boils down to two choices:

Either keep doing what you’re already doing – which is probably the safe and comfortable option.

Or try a different approach.

Many people choose the first option, getting better at dancing the same moves with the same people, and developing compensations which make it appear that everything is working just fine – until you find yourself in a different environment with different people.

But as I often say to students now, familiarity should not be mistaken for skill.

This is a road which  can lead to stagnation if you’re not careful. Boredom is a genuine reason people drop out from their Salsa classes.

Or, for those who are brave enough, they can choose transformation.

On 2 Is A Feeling

It’s not all about the timing. Many dancers think that as long as they step on the right counts, they have “cracked” dancing On 2.

But it’s still the same old 123 567 – just a different step pattern.

And the net result is a dance which still somehow feels disconnected from the music.

Salsa On 2 has a different flow, a different feel.

The accents in the rhythm create this – not all steps have the same quality or emphasis, and learning how and where to place these accents is crucial to getting the right feel.

This is the real skill when dancing Salsa On 2 – as well as responding to all the breaks and changes in the music and knowing how to use your whole body to interpret the music.

The Role Of Footwork In Mambo

Footwork is the foundation of all dance skill, and its role is highlighted in Mambo shines.

It’s simply impossible to keep up with the music without decent footwork skills, so if your current shine repertoire is shuffling through a few Suzy Qs then hold on tight because we have serious work to do!

Not only that, learning and practising shines is THE most powerful thing you can do to improve your all-round Salsa skills.

This part of the course will improve your balance, coordination, technique and musicality skills exponentially.

And it’s the foundation for ALL improvisation both in solo and partner work.

The Role Of Spinning In Mambo

Spins are an essential ingredient in all cross body Salsa styles, yet many dancers find them challenging.

Like many other aspects of Salsa they can seem impossible if you don’t have the base technique to lead or follow them correctly.

And when the physical and technical prerequisites are missing, there will always be compensation and bad habits which can lead to overload of the nervous system resulting in vertigo-like symptoms and WORSE spins.

The missing link for many is sufficient foot, hip, ankle and core strength – which means that balance will always be problematic until these factors are addressed.

This is especially important for those dancing in high heels where additional flexibility will be required in the arches and metatarsals.

For this reason my Mambo course will build your spinning technique from the ground up, troubleshooting existing issues, and including some simple strategies to improve strength and balance.

Why I Made the Switch to On 2

In order to really challenge myself and grow as a dancer, I knew I would have to start going to other clubs – places where the really good dancers hung out and strutted their stuff.

Those with awesome musicality and partnering skills. Those who would enable me to really up my game. 

For me this meant London.

And it meant learning to dance Salsa On 2.

It’s here that I’m likely to be accused of being a snob – an accusation often levelled at the Mambo crowd by dancers of other styles.

But actually my expansion to On 2 was much more about my relationship with the music than being part of a “scene”.

For me, social dancing was always primarily about self expression and connection. 

I felt the music very deeply and was passionate about it, but knew I didn’t have all the technical and physical capabilities needed to fully embody the music and express myself.

I knew that Salsa was about so much more than stepping 123 567 and I was ready to discover it!

My Mission

I want to help you take things to the next level.

I want to open the door so you can actually access on the dance floor some of the moves, combos, musicality, spontaneity and style that you may currently believe are only accessible to teachers and pros.

The things that you do not currently have the technique, speed, or dance vocabulary for.

Or the things that you can only get to work in class when the followers know what’s coming. 

There are also some stylistic differences between LA Salsa On 1 and NY Salsa On 2 which I’ll cover in the course as well.

Musicality Is Not A Dark Art

Many students are put off by the word “musicality” thinking that it is too hard, too boring, and that it has no relevance for them.

Maybe you’ve done workshops that were very dry and theory based, and they turned you off, or you couldn’t apply what was taught to your own social dances.

Maybe you’ve been told to “feel the music” but aren’t sure what that even means or how to go about it.

I believe that musicality is for everyone, and I believe in teaching it in a very practical and accessible way.

So the musicality we cover on the course is delivered in bite-sized chunks which will transform the way you listen to and move to the music, sharpening your timing and bringing more awareness to the way you move.

Carefully Curated Salsa Music Lists For Students

One of my goals with this course was to create a musical soundtrack which would pay homage to all the great maestros of the Palladium era and track the development of the music through the Fania years up to the modern day.

This is challenging because a large proportion of New York style Salsa and Mambo music is extremely fast and structurally complex, so hearing the individual instruments can be tricky.

Because of this it’s easy to tune out to tracks that you find difficult to hear, and to only dance at venues where the music is predictable and “safe”.

Fortunately I’ve done the hard work so you don’t have to!

I also wanted to make sure that the music was appropriate not just in tempo, but clearly demonstrated the musical concepts I was presenting in each lesson.

This has taken some time to get right, but the result is an amazing collection of tracks which will assist in developing each dancer’s ear and musicality skills.