I think you may be a little confused ; " Clave " is the instrument that sets the stage, so to speak, for how the music is played. It comes in 2 separate orders. Rumba and Guaracha, 3/2 format ( 5 strikes )
and the Son and Guaguanco are 2/3 .
So.. it depends upon WHOM writes the music, for the style in which they want it played . Some bands do have a habit of "switching " the clave during the song. In essence, a good dancer, will adjust HOW they continue to dance, accordingly ( its important, but really wont affect your dance, if you continued dancing in the same fashion ) .
N.B. The above mentioned Rumba, is NOT the format which you would be dancing as a social dance, in either Intern. or Amer. style.
This is a native form of musical composition, which is danced "Free " form .
It is the root of all latin music ,as it employs only a Clave ,and Tumbao ( a drum ) as an accompaniament .
So..... the dances we dance today, are loosely based upon those formats. The only truer forms left that, are danced socially, appear in some forms of Salsa ( Son for e.g. ).
Latin rhythms, are polyrhythmic , and complex. My suggestion is , for now, consolidate your foundation ,to simple counting methods which work for you . Studying at a deeper level will eventually give you a more complete undarstanding of how( and why ) the dances are constructed, the way they are, tho, in my opinion, the Intern. style has lost its way !
If you want to read more about the genre, there are some excellent articles ( written by musicians and others ) on Salsa Forums .
Hope this helps..
