Does your timing suck?

I don’t mean in life, for that you’ll need more than just our help! I mean in Salsa. What is the correct timing for L.A Style Salsa or Salsa-on-1? How do you find the first beat? Do the rest of the beats matter?

The first beat is important. It is where it all starts, and it is where you need to start! There are tricks to finding the first beat, sometimes it is an emphasised beat, sometimes it is the beat that the singer or the background singers start on. Mostly, you’ll just have to practice and keep practicing until you get it, eventually! If you want to look at the technicalities of finding the first beat have a read of what the Dancing Irishman has to say in How to find that goddam 1 beat in salsa.  

Once you have found the 1, you need to move on to the 2 beat, really quickly. The 1 & 2 beats in LA style salsa are quick beats and follow in quick succession of one another. This is the first “quick-quick”. It is important because without the quick-quick there is no slow. Beat 3 and 4 are the slow. This is where you transfer your weight from one foot to the other more slowly. They are the chill-out phase where you can gather your thoughts and often your breath for a fraction before moving on to the next quick-quick. The second quick-quick is 5 and 6. These need to be at the same speed as 1 and 2 and is the quick-quick which precedes the last slow, 7 and 8, the second chill-out phase and slow transfer of weight.  Thus you get:

                    1   2              3  4            5  6               7  8
                quick-quick         slow       quick-quick         slow

If all your steps are quick and there is no slow, it means you are not giving time to the 4 and 8 and therefore you will find yourself out of time with the music. If all your steps are slow in your salsa basic, it generally means that you are completely out of time with the music!  There are of course those steps that you will learn at a more advanced level where this basic rhythm changes, but the more you practice this the better you will become! And here is another tip, the faster the song you are dancing to, the more important this rhythm is!

So listen, listen, listen! The music is not there to create a nice party vibe while you dance; it creates your dance- keep listening!

Happy Dancing peeps!


2 Replies to “Does your timing suck?”

  1. welcome back !!!!!!

    thanx for a WONDERFUL class on Wednesday 09.01.2013
    what an exciting way to start this season !!!
    thank you personally for the HOPPA, Carlos 🙂 !!!!
    i was totally exhausted
    but as always so satisfied with being able to dance in Barbosa
    …. i’ll miss the Bachata though ….
    till next wednesday then
    take good care Carlos & Lani !!!



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