DANCING ON 2

Salsa "On 2", also known as mambo or salsa New York style, was re-introduced to the New York salsa scene by its devoted promoter, fabulous dancer and great instructor Eddie Torres.

Mambo dance originated in Cuba, introduced by Perez Prado in the early 1940s. Then, brought to the United States by the Caribbean immigration wave in the 1950s and 60s, the dance evolved further there. The name salsa (sauce in Spanish) was first used in New York to describe the mixture of Afro-Caribbean folk music and American jazz.

Since we are speaking about salsa and mambo, you may wonder which term to use ;) Tito Puente once said "salsa is what we eat and mambo is what we dance". Well, even though mambo should be the proper term when speaking about the dance, nowadays - since it has been influenced by ballet, jazz, flamenco, hip-hop, modern dance and hustle - the word salsa is more commonly used to describe both the music and dance across the globe. Notwithstanding, mambo became a synonym of salsa "On 2" NY style(s), so one can use these terms alternatively. 

Maria & Marc Anthony salsa social dancing

Dancing "On 2" refers to breaking (changing the direction of the basic step from going forward to going backwards and vice-versa) on the second downbeat of salsa music. There are a couple of salsa "On 2" styles:

  • Puerto Rican On 2 (with the basic step on 2-3-4, 6-7-8 beats, where male dancers brake forward on the second downbeat),
  • New York classic / Palladium On 2 style (with the basic step on 2-3-4, 6-7-8 beats, where male dancers brake backward on the second downbeat) 
  • New York "Eddie Torres" On 2 style (with the basic step on 1-2-3, 5-6-7 beats, where male dancers brake backward on the second down beat).

In each of these styles the breaks, and therefore the accents, fall onto the second downbeat in the 4/4 count measure.

Myself, I particularly like Eddie Torres' mambo style, as it combines following the main melodic accents (since the basic step falls onto the 1st beat) and the rhythmical accents (with the breaks of the basic step falling onto the 2nd downbeat following the accents of tumbao rhythm). Tumbao rhythm is played by the percussionists on conga drums, which are (along with the clave) the core of salsa music.