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Counting salsa: the 1, On1 and On2

2.What “breaking” means

The break step is the moment you rock forward or back and change direction. Where it falls is the big difference between the two main timings.

On1 (LA style) breaks on beat 1, and again on 5. On2 (New York style) breaks on beat 2, and again on 6, closer to how mambo dancers timed it at New York's Palladium Ballroom in the 1950s (more on that dance hall in a later lesson).

ListenAzúcarEddie Palmieri · 1965The title track of Palmieri's 1965 album Azúcar Pa' Ti, a New York mambo classic and a favorite of On2 dancers. Try breaking On1, then On2, to its long piano montuno.