Hi, I've been dancing Rythm for several years and begining to transition into Latin. I was wondering if anyone can offer advice to overcoming the habit of breaking on 1 in Rumba to break on 2. I have a very good since of the musical timing and can hear the beats, and when concienciously thinking about just the timing I am succsessfull, however when my attention is divided to other areas I find myself slipping back onto the 1. Yrs. of American Rumba and marching band working against me I guess. I realize that it is simply a matter of retraing the motor skills with time, but any tips to shorten this process or avoid any potential pitfalls would be greatly appreciated. Sorry so long.

This is certainly muscle memory at work. American Rhythm is unfortunately also a popular social dance and you will have to start out by not doing this at the local social.

Many folks think that they can separate social dance from their competition dancing, but remember, an hour of bad social dancing is the same to your muscles as an hour of quality practice with an amateur partner, so try to not suffer through it with the local senoirs at the tea dance... all you're doing is reinforcing a bad habit.

If you are a follower, you will begin to understand the rhythm during your syllabus work - if a leader, the same, but you must spend time counting. try putting some music in your car as you drive.

When I did it I gave up American Rumba completely until I was solid with timing of International. Think of it as if you are learning completely different dance now. Also, I find that some rumba music is just not suitable for international rumba, only for american. Some bolero music works really well for international rumba, especially that footwork of bolero basic is a lot more similar to international rumba.

Can you do american cha-cha? That breaks on two (unless you had an idiot for a teacher, which happens).

So try thinking of rumba as cha-cha with some missing steps. It's slow so verbally count all the beats, and consciously dance all of them.

My latin technique is far from perfect, but I might do something like this from a cold start:

1 count
2 a measure
3 to prepare
============
4 step to side but keep weight 'up'
1 settle into hip
2 step forward (or back)
3 replace
4 step to side but wait
1 settle into hip
Etc.

By having something to DO on the 1 you can hit the 2 without drifting off the music. Personally, I count it with half beats 4&1&2&3&4&1 and split the actions up to these various more precise points in time... it keeps the mind busy...

We have the same trouble in my country, where dancers slip onto the wrong beat. The problem seems to be , this is of course if you can hear the beats correctly, that a person arrives with all their weight on 4 and has nothing to do on 1, which should be a hip movement only. This is where it gets tricky. You should arrive on 4, heel down on the beat of four, but don't move your hip over untill the count of one. To add a little more. I wonder if you know the importance of getting your heal down right on the beat. In the case of a New York the toe must arrive before the beat to enable me to get my heel down on the beat. That is why the steps are being counted in half beats. On every half beat there is an action. My teacher, a former top international professional, tells us that a step is just a step. It is in between the steps where we dance. Good Luck.