Hi, ChubRub.
Internation Rumba is danced with the QQ on a different part of the music then American.

Start by sitting and listening to a rumba song and being able to hear the "1" beat. Count 1,2,3,4 and practice starting and stopping counting out loud and being able to find the 1.

Listen for boom, tick, boom, tick. The "boom" or down beat is heard on beats 1 and 3. The "tick" or upbeat is 2 and 4.

Your quick quick is now to be danced to beats 2, 3. The side step will take up beats 4 through 1.

I do lots of social dancing and I see many people doing International Rumba, but maybe 5% of them dance it to the correct timing of breaking on the 2 beat.

I danced with a nice fellow recently who realized partway into the song that he was off time in Rumba, so he started counting out loud "Tick-tock- 4-1 Tick-tock-4-1" and that seemed to work for him.
Incidentally, this is also where you should be breaking in Cha cha - on the 2/3 beat, so if you have correct timing in cha cha, perhaps that may help you.

+Jewel B.

It is somtimes difficult for the untrained ear to recognise the pulsation ,beats of the Rumba, and to understand why the forward and backward steps are taken on the second beat. If however the dancer uses the hips correctly on beat one which is a hip movement it it should be easy to understand why we break on beat two. Try this. Facing each other before a Spot Turn to the Left we settle the hip to the Left. Then a Spot Turn. After the Spot Turn before a New York we settle the hip to the Right. Then New York. And after we settle the hip again we can do another New York. The settling of the hip is on the beat of one. Now start counting disks from the beginning to the end. Have a pencil handy and on every eight bars put a tick. Don't be suprised if you finish with a different count at first. What happens well into the disk is the concentration wains. Good Luck

I realise this is an old topic, and no one may be looking any longer - but here goes anyway.

I found "Latin Dancer's" analysis of the second-beat technique in international rhumba very helpful, especially the importance of using 25 bpm music with the fourth crotchet played or emphasised as two quavers(eighth-notes). The trouble is, in my collectioon of approximately 100 supposed rhumba tracks, hardly any have the fourth crotchet emphasised in this fashion.

Can anyone put me onto a source of rhumba tracks played by a band or bands which clearly and audibly play or emphasis the fourth beat as two eighth-notes in the manner described by "Latin Dancer"?

Thanks.