Salsa On1 Footwork Courses: Open Now

Four courses, built for dancers who dance On1 and want the vocabulary their scene never taught them: shines. Same teacher, same method, same to-the-point lessons as the On2 courses. Beginners start in 101, a solid basic and turns in 201, performers in 301. Partnerwork On1 holds the eleven partner modules of 101 as a course of its own.

• 124 named steps, danced On1. Basic and side steps, right and left turns, the Suzy Q family, taps, flares, patterns, heel twists, swing steps, syncopations, jumps, angles, rondes, level changes, arm styling and the hook family, each one from its first version to its hardest.
• Eighteen shelves, each one from foundation to mastery. A shelf is a family of steps. Open any shelf in any order, and inside it the levels unlock in sequence: a library and a path at the same time.
• Technique on every step, not in a separate chapter. Each step gets one lesson that gets to the point, the technique that makes it look and feel good, a drill on music, written notes and a quiz, like every other course on the platform.
• Three combos as milestones, one closing each level. Beginner, intermediate and advanced. Each combo uses only moves that came before it, so it is where the technique gets tested under pressure.
• Three bridge modules. How to dance any footwork On2, how to convert partnerwork timing in both directions, and the route into the On2 courses if you want it.
• Partnerwork is included. Eleven On1 partnerwork modules, one per partner lesson: basic and connection, right turn, left turn, cross body lead, walkthrough, break back into enchufla, inside turn, outside turn, copa, Titanic and shadow position, partner axle turns. They sit in Salsa On1 101 and are also a mini course of their own, Partnerwork On1. Learning their timing is what opens the On2 partner series up in On1. Choreography is not part of this course.

Taught by Pavle Popovic, with video captions in 16 languages and the written notes translated, like every course here.

The four Salsa On1 courses are taught On1. The rest of the salsa catalogue is taught On2 (New York Mambo timing): the Salsa On2 courses, Partnerwork 101 to 301, the Musicality course, the salsa drills in the Dance Toolkit and the choreographies. The technique, body movement and styling are exactly the same in both timings. What changes is the break, not the move, so all of it is open to an On1 dancer. Three rules cover everything:

1. Moves that repeat on both sides (the Suzy Q, Tres Tres, the Crossover): dance them exactly as taught, starting from the other side, on the left leg.
2. All other footwork (the right turn, the left turn, step-touch patterns): take the move as taught On2, remove the step on 1 with the right leg, and step straight with the left on 1, which is the 2 of the move in the lesson.
3. Partnerwork: the lead's 2 becomes the 5 and the 6 becomes the 1, and everything else follows from there. Same cross body lead, same turns, same hand positions.

The count mapping, leader's footwork

The feet are the same feet: left on 1, right on 2, left on 3. Only the size and direction of each step changes. The in-app concierge knows these rules too, so you can ask it about any specific move.

Where an On1 dancer starts, two things that need no conversion at all, and what the rules above open up:

• Salsa On1 101, 201 or 301, by level. Total beginners start in 101, dancers with a solid basic and turns in 201, performers in 301. Partnerwork On1 holds the eleven On1 partner modules as a course of its own.
• Bodymovement Mastery. Isolations from the head to the knees, bounce, shimmy, despelote, rolls and waves. No salsa timing involved: it is the layer you put over any footwork, in any timing.
• The glossary. More than 300 move definitions quoted word for word from the lesson notes. Free, no account.
• The On2 courses, with the three rules. Partnerwork 201 and 301 and the Musicality course go further than the On1 courses, and the rules above make them yours in On1.

Learn what your scene dances first. That advice stays. But On1 and On2 are the same dance with the break on a different beat, and a dancer who only dances one of them dances with half the room and learns half of what is out there.

On2 dancers usually pick up On1 in a few weeks, because the steps are the same and the hard part is one habit. The On1 course is built so the reverse is just as short: every combo is shown in both timings, and the bridge modules teach the switch explicitly instead of leaving it to chance.

• →Salsa On1 vs Salsa On2: the full comparison
• →How to switch from On1 to On2 in six weeks