I originally learned to dance Salsa/Mambo by breaking on the '1'. I had no idea of what breaking on '2' meant, let alone what the clave was or for that matter what it meant to count an 8 measure bar. It was a pretty frustrating time in my dancing life. I had to think too much. I found myself counting so much that all I could do was pull my hair in frustration. I was able to follow the steps in class, but when it came to dancing what I learned to an actual tune, I was always told that I was off timing.