Welcome to
StreetDance Australia 's
Dance Survival Guides
  • Finding the Clave

  • Understanding the Music

  • The Clave Rhythm

  • Dancing with the Clave.

  • Emergence of the Dances

  • New York Mambo/Salsa

  • Origins of Salsa...

    Part IV: Dancing with the Clave
    by Paul Clifford

    In Part III we discussed the clave rhythm. Now we will discuss how the Clave is the key to performing Afro-Cuban dance and how to use it to start and time your movements.

    The Rumba, Mambo, Cha Cha and Salsa all dance with the clave and therefore use the same basic dance patterns. The variation that gives uniqueness to each dance occurs on the 4th count and 8th count. As discussed in part I, this reflects the adaption of Native African clave patterns, which were played in 12/8 time, into the Cuban clave pattern played in 4/4 time.

    Real dancers don't dance on the clave. As we discussed in Part III, if you did, it would be the dance equivalent of a musician playing out of tune! However, real dancers, do dance with the clave. What this means, is that they use the clave pattern to co-ordinate their movements.

    The word "clave" literally means key. It is a repetitive pattern in the music that keeps the band members in time and in the same pattern. As a dancer, it is that part of the music that locks you into a measure of music. A musical repetition that tells you, when to start or that you should have completed a sequence of moves and should start another.


    2/3 son clave

    As a dancer the key is the bar which has a musical emphasis on the 2 and 3 counts. From the first time you hear it, it will occur every second bar. Because the 2 and 3 clave beats have rests either side of them (like quotation marks) these beats are easier to hear than the 1, 2& and 4 beats of the next bar.


    son clave with pulse beat

    In Part II of this article we discussed that the pulse beats of the music occur on the 1st and 3rd counts. These strong down beats can make it a bit hard to hear the clave pattern. However, there is a clue in the bar where the 2 and 3 clave beats occur. Often the clave beat won't be played on the second pulse beat (count 3). What you might hear is a strong down beat on count 1, the clave beat on count 2 and a stronger down beat on count 3 which resonates into count 4. Search for the 2 and 3 clave beats. They really are readily identifiable and are the key to finding the clave rhythm.

    The clave is what makes Afro-Cuban rhythms different to European/American pop music and dance styles where the dancers step to the downbeats. The Salsa/Mambo/Rumba dancer steps between the pulse beats that occur in Afro-Cuban music on counts 1 and 3 - this is why the music and dance are classified as syncopated rhythms!

    In Part III, we discussed that there is a forward clave and a reverse clave pattern. For a drummer there is a technical difference in regards to the "groove" that these patterns create but apart from the mood that the different patterns inspire - from a dancer's perspective both patterns are basically the same. The "key" determines when we start to move and when we should finish a dance pattern.

    As a dancer we listen for when the 2 and 3 clave beats do or do not occur. If they are absent in the first bar (forward clave), you start on count 2 of the second bar or next time they occur. If they are present in the first bar (reverse clave). Oops! You have been so busy listening for the pattern you missed the start. Don't rush into starting the dance! Be patient and start on count 2 of the third bar or next time they occur. Not a particularly complicated fact but it takes practice to co-ordinate dance moves with the music. Turn off the light, put on your headphones, lie on the floor and listen to some Salsa music. Listen for the clave pattern and dream you are the greatest dancer that has ever lived. You just might be!

    [ If you have decided to try and find the clave and are about to turn off the light, put on your headphones, lie on the floor and listen to some music then first press Cntrl-D to bookmark this page.

    If you have a copy of Lou Bega’s 1999 remake of Mambo No 5 listen to the four tracks of the single. In the Radio Edit and Extended Mix (what I call the line dance versions) the 2/3 clave pattern to me is really evident. Also listen to the Havanna Club Mix (Salsa version), listen to the trumpets, then the drums and then the base where the clave pattern is carried. Have fun!

    When you have finished come back and read on! ]

    If as a dancer you lose the rhythm, just feel the music. Every two bars, the 2 and 3 beat of the clave will be there for you to fix your timing!


    son clave with pulse beat

    You could find the clave by simply waiting for the first strike of the pulse beat that occurs on count one. Then start your steps on the next count (two), that would put you on clave, but might put you out of "feel" with the music. So I recommend finding the 2 and 3 counts and base your choreography around the bars where they occur.

    Rumba (Son Montuno), Mambo, Cha Cha and Salsa are all dance styles based on the Son clave. Salsa is the grandchild of Rumba. Dancing with the clave means to "break on 2", starting your steps with a change in direction on the 2nd beat of the music, that contains the bar, which has the emphasis on the 2 and 3 counts.

    The creative innovations that gave birth to the Rumba based dances largely reflect the development of the music. While the clave pattern remains unchanged, it has been complimented with new instruments, like electric guitar, keyboard and horns, and the music has been given a new sound and a new feel.

    The question dancers now have to ask themselves is whether to abandon the clave based patterns and surrender the syncopated dance styling of the Cubans to European march patterns.

    In short! Should we dance on the music's down beats or between them? Or do we compromise as the New York Mambo/Salsa dancers seem to have - use European march footwork controlled by the downbeats and express the syncopated rhythm through upper body movement? I guess it’s a matter of tradition versus innovation but that is what street dance is all about - take what you know and modify it to match the music!

    In Part V - Emergence of the Clave based dances, we will illustrate and discuss how the Cuban based dances developed. We will discuss Rumba Guaguanco, Rumba Son Montuno, Mambo, Cha Cha, Salsa and finally New York Mambo/Salsa.

    Click here to continue





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    This page was last updated November 2000
    copyright Paul F Clifford (2000)