Transitioning from On2 to On1. Is it hard?

Just last night I was speaking to an instructor who has been teaching, that I know of, since 1990 and probably a lot longer.

We were talking about teaching beginners On1 versus On2. His opinion was that it is easier for beginners to go from On2 to On1, than it is for them to go from On1 to On2.

I think I understand 'why' that is his opinion, but I'm not sure that I fully agree. What other thoughts are out there?
 
El Caobo said:
Just last night I was speaking to an instructor who has been teaching, that I know of, since 1990 and probably a lot longer.

We were talking about teaching beginners On1 versus On2. His opinion was that it is easier for beginners to go from On2 to On1, than it is for them to go from On1 to On2.

I think I understand 'why' that is his opinion, but I'm not sure that I fully agree. What other thoughts are out there?
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Ive been teaching and dancing salsa a "tad " longer, and it is unequivically much easier to go from "2" to "1" than the reverse... altho.. I danced and taught on "2" for over 30 yrs and found it strange, rather than difficult when switching ( due to demand ) to teach on "1" as well as "2" ...

In addition, there are certain songs that are un-escapably on "2" to my ear ( as well as other parts of my body )..
 
terence said:
Ive been teaching and dancing salsa a "tad " longer, and it is unequvically much easier to go from "2" to "1" than the reverse... altho.. I danced on "2" for over 30 yrs and found it strange, rather than difficult when switching ( due to demand ) to teach on "1" ...
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how can we actually be sure of this? (i agree as i learned on1 first and spent just about a yr getting equally as comfortable on2) if a person learned on2 first, then on1, they would never know what its like to have learned on1 first then on2 to make a comparison.
 
vata07 said:
how can we actually be sure of this? (i agree as i learned on1 first and spent just about a yr getting equally as comfortable on2) if a person learned on2 first, then on1, they would never know what its like to have learned on1 first then on2 to make a comparison.
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Simple. Ask instructors. I'm sure there are many of them that transitioned people from On1 to On2 and vice versa. So, I'm sure based on what they've seen in students, they can tell which was a better transition.

Based on what I googled and from the responses here, it seems to be much easier to transition from On2 to On1. I think it has to do with On1 being easier (at least, that's what On1 dancers seem to claim). For some reason, a lot of people seem to struggle learning On2. In fact, I know a few people that took a few lessons on On2 first, gave up, and then just decided to learn On1 and they became very good at it. They claimed On2 was just so difficult for them to learn, but On1 was much easier.
 
I danced on1 for many years and then learned on2. It was very very slow for me until one day I just "got it". Everything I knew for on1 just worked for on2 as well. Instantly. It's not about learning how to dance differently. It's about responding to the music differently. It's like listening to a different part of the music. All the advice to stick with on2 for a while is good advice until you really have the essence of the music internalized. Then when you work on your on1 dancing you will eventually find the music you need to respond to and the transition will happen very quickly.
 
salsamarty said:
It's not about learning how to dance differently. It's about responding to the music differently. It's like listening to a different part of the music.
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I agree 100%! Generally speaking, seems to me that dancing On2 requires listening and responding to the percussions.

On1 requires listening and dancing to the bass guitar, upright bass or bass notes of a regular guitar, but to the bass notes nevertheless.
 
El Caobo said:
I agree 100%! Generally speaking, seems to me that dancing On2 requires listening and responding to the percussions.

On1 requires listening and dancing to the bass guitar, upright bass or bass notes of a regular guitar, but to the bass notes nevertheless.
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Likewise. To me bass gives the same song more on 1 feel and congas on 2. And singing on 3 :)
 
AndrewS said:
I thought leading was all about good timing?



I would say you are poor at believing what the more experienced people on the forum have told you, in some cases, a number of times.
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I'm talking about the timing of my steps...that is, my steps are on time with the music. Isn't that what they're talking about?

Timing of my steps has nothing to do with giving the woman a good, clear signal of what turn pattern you're going to do. Or maybe it does? All I know is that I've seen some men out there that are better leaders than me, but they're dancing off the music. So, no, leading has nothing to do with dancing on time.

And are you suggesting that people on this website know more than my instructors? How can you be so sure?
 
Whooa There! Leading and timing do go together. The timing of the lead is very important. If you lead too late your lead will not be clear. There are other aspects of the lead that are not related to timing but if you have the timing off then it's going to be very rough on your partner.
 
salsamarty said:
Whooa There! Leading and timing do go together. The timing of the lead is very important. If you lead too late your lead will not be clear. There are other aspects of the lead that are not related to timing but if you have the timing off then it's going to be very rough on your partner.
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They are 2 distinct skills.. one may "lead " well AND be off time.. and vice versa
 
salsamarty said:
Whooa There! Leading and timing do go together. The timing of the lead is very important. If you lead too late your lead will not be clear. There are other aspects of the lead that are not related to timing but if you have the timing off then it's going to be very rough on your partner.
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Ohhhh! You're talking about the timing of the lead!!! I thought you guys were talking about the timing of my footwork. My mistake! Sorry about that!
 
They do Lolita. They most certainly do.

Terence is correct in saying that it is possible to be off time and still have a good lead. By good lead I mean clear and smooth. However, watch how your leading skills improve exponentially when you correct your timing. Without the proper timing things will just never fall together properly.
 
lolita said:
When you take Spanish 101 and practice what you studied with people who also only took Spanish 101- none of you are going to get better miraculously.
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True for a follower I believe, but a leader does improve from dancing with less capable followers, even if not as fast as if he dances with expert followers as well. When something goes wrong with a good follower, he knows for sure it was his fault and can make corrections.

Also, I see plenty of very popular leads who have no idea if they're dancing on the 1 or the 5, often even the tempo is wrong. They know plenty of patterns and can lead their moves with confidence. They might look awful, but are known as "good leads". One of those guys lead me during a practice session, and yes, it was a smooth and clear lead.

So, for most follows, those who really doesn't know or care much about the music, good timing is not really that important. Lead is what they care about.
 
I_love_salsa said:
My conclusion was, good leads can have such a clear lead that you can't do anything else than following correctly, which may make you think you're a better follower than you really are. Or when you don't follow correctly, they just change whatever they wanted to lead without you really noticing that something didn't go according to the plan. So, I guess, it's a good idea to also dance with guys who may not be advanced leaders yet, once in a while at least.
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:notworthy:
 
I_love_salsa said:
My conclusion was, good leads can have such a clear lead that you can't do anything else than following correctly, which may make you think you're a better follower than you really are.
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And so true in reverse. The really good followers can practically read our minds when it comes to moves because they've seen them all so many times. So we can give a really weak signal and they'll still execute perfectly, making us think we're far better than we really are.:cool:
 
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