How To Dance New York Style Mambo
by Marla Friedler

So many people have e-mailed me asking me explain New York Style Mambo and how it differs from ballroom style mambo so I've decided to write a feature about it. Here goes...

The difference between "ballroom" 2 and "New York" 2
Ballroom 2 dancers hold the 1 and 5, which means that they step on 2,3,4 and 6,7,8. The break steps are on 2 and 6.

NY2 dancers hold the 4 and 8, which means that 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 step 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.

Holding the 4 and 8 counts instead of the 1 and 5 makes for a really interesting style because although you don't step on the 4 and 8, you are not really holding in place on the counts you don't step on as in ballroom style. This is because on the 4 and 8 you are in motion moving your foot all the way from the front to the back or the back to the front, getting ready to step on 1 or 5. This makes NY2 a very fluid dance.

I've heard "1" dancers say that they prefer dancing on 1 because they can hit all the accents but the NY2 style allows for this to happen as well since you are stepping on 1 but also dancing with the clave by breaking on 2 and 6.

Dancing on Clave
The rhythm of the clave can be charted as follows:

The second beat of the clave is slightly behind the 2 beat but for all practical purposes the L falls on 2. The clave pop, pop, pop - pop, pop hits on 1, 2-1/2, 4, 6 and 7.

When the woman breaks forward (left foot) she's stepping on the 2 beat or the Clave L beat. When the man breaks forward (left foot) he's stepping on the 6 beat or the Clave V beat.

In what I've outlined so far, the man breaks back on 2 but the belief that it is better etiquette for the man to start forward and not back at the beginning of the dance may cause the man to wait until the second half of the measure (567) before starting.

The Basic Step
This is the basic step with the woman's timing (also used to teach shines):

Men just switch 1-4 with 5-8 (1 becomes 5, 2 becomes 6, etc.)

The second count of music (the L in CLAVE) is the most important step to accent as it is also accented by the congas.

Open Shine Position
Shines are freestyle steps that are done when the man is not actually leading the woman. It is each person's chance to "shine" and do their own thing. Sometimes shines are done as a playful challenge to your partner. Although shines are done when you are not physically touching your partner, you should still have your partner in your mind. The connection between each of you should remain intact.

Basic Shines
Some of the basic shines are: Suzy Q, Side Basic, Hook Step, Cuban Step, Front Double Cross, Crossover Suzy Q, Spiral Step, Zig Zag, Half Swing Step and Side Slide.

Intermediate Shines
Some of the intermediate shines are: Turn combination, Half Flare, Semi-Circle Step, Four Corners, 4-Beat Chord, Front and Back Crossovers, Pachange Strut, Circular Suzy Q and Braid Step.

Advanced Shines are created by adding to and combining basic and intermediate shines. Learn them and then create your own.

Although I’ve written this in a very “technical” manner, I’ve done so only so that you can understand NY Style Mambo but the truth is that once you have mastered the timing and internalized it, you should try to not think about it and to just have fun with and feel the music.

You should know the technique so that you can move from there to do your own thing within the rhythm. Mambo is about feeling and soul so do what feels good to you.