The "2" Club

Salsa - A "2" Perspective - by Marla

After spending the last two weeks in New York dancing on 2, I am finding it very difficult to enjoy dancing on 1 again. Don't get me wrong, I think LA has fabulous dancers but I miss the soul and spirit of the NY dancers. Since being back, I really notice that my arms get tired from endless partners thinking it's really cool to spin me, pretzel me through numerous maneuvers, tricks, drops, etc. That used to be really fun to me but not anymore. I'd rather dance with a partner who does less tricks but has more soul.

When you dance the NY 2 (which is different than the typical ballroom 2 - I'll explain later), you feel like you are just gliding. It feels like your partner is taking you on the ultimate thrill ride - not with speed and tricks, but with soul.

How to dance NY 2:
Ballroom 2 dancers hold the 1 and 5, which means that they step on 2,3, 4 and then on 6,7,8. The breaks are on 2 and 6.

NY 2 dancers hold the 4 and 8, which means they step on 1,2,3 and 5,6,7. They also break on 2 and 6. How can they step on different beats and still break on 2 and 6. The answer is simple. Women start forward on 1 with the right foot but then take another forward step (the break step) on 2. The men do the opposite. The result is magical.

New-Yorkicans do lots of footwork and shine (freestyle) steps. Holding the 4 and 8 counts instead of the 1 and 5 makes for a really interesting style. I've heard 1 dancers say that they prefer dancing on 1 because they can hit all the accents (downbeats). The NY 2 style allows for this to happen as well since you are stepping on 1, and, at the same time gives you the dancing with the clave feel that 2 dancers experience. It's like the best of both worlds.

Therefore, I think we should start a "2 Club Page" to unite people who dance on 2 together. Okay, I admit that I have selfish reasons for wanting to start a 2 club: If I don't have other 2 dancers to dance with I might have to move to NY and deal with cold winters. So, why not develop a NY dance scene in LA? Let's get e-mail from people who are interested and then start classes/practice parties.
Marla