Thank you , i did not know there was an american version, we teach the way we were trained man starts with weight on lf and tranfers weight to rf for 1 then steps forward on 2 so thus starting on 2 we were 5th in the uk in the professional championships and are also adjudicators . best wishes David.

David. I'm with you on this one. But I would like to point out that Donnie Burns and quite a few others always start the Rumba with the RF behind the LF and on beat one stepped forward with the RF. Wally Laird used to say I do not want to see a gap between your thighs ever. Otherwise I will place my hand in that gap. From a lecture by Alan and Hazel Fletcher given on the Gold Coast some years ago. I still have the tape.
Do you have any thoughts on the way the Rumba is changing. With the music being played so slow compared to how it was a short while ago it was officially 28 to 31.bpm something has got to change. Best Wishes.
If you are not familiar in the US bpm means Beats per Minute. Crazy

Slight correction.. it isnt an " american " version, its the original format from Cuba, anglicised/americanised to a great degree, but the foundation is intact .

Way back when when I (and others on this site ) learned rumba, it was Sq. The current form did not exist .

What you are seeing now, is an adaption of Cuban Bolero .

Terence. Interesting. I can see that the Alternate Basic in the American Style Rumba is the same as The International Style which both have a quarter a turn between the two bars of music. Which means that every step is a forward or backward step which allows the quarter of a turn. Unfortunately in a Social class this is seldom taught and after two basics we are still facing the same way which is incorrect. I don't like that side step in the Bolero or the Box Rumba. I think compared to the International Style it looks ugly. I suppose if one is exposed to it enough times one would accept it. Question. If we were to cut out that step to the side in the Bolero and did it more towards the International Style would it be accepted in a Comp. We could still make the 1/2 a turn over the two bars.

Like most things in dance and music, its a preferential choice .

what one has to consider is this... the format for the social ballroom concept was in place many yrs before the English ( pierre.. who was french ) re designed the Bolero to fit what HE thought it should be .

That concept is open to challenge on a couple of levels .
The one thing for sure that he changed,was placing the emphasis on the 2nd beat of the bar ( the Clave side ),,,, but... one should also note, that the clave sometimes reverses in the musical format from 3/2 to 2/3 .
there is a strict hierarchy in the world of latin music, that takes precedent on ALL that we think it should be, as to what ist real intentions are .
the dances that we have taken and reconstructed, are part of a more serious ritualistic format, that still can be observed even in modern day interpretations, IF we follow its roots .

As to liking Sq rumba or not.. it is a format which the general public for social use, is much more practical , and is much closer to its origins .

david... Exactly as I stated,

I think you mis read my post .

On your 1st post you said man STARTED with left, you made yourself much clearer on your revised edition.