---
title: "Salsa lead or follow which foot"
description: "Salsa lead or follow which foot to copy from a class clip, before the shine trains the wrong role."
canonical_url: "https://dancermirror.com/guides/practise-salsa-and-bachata-from-a-class-video"
md_url: "https://dancermirror.com/guides/practise-salsa-and-bachata-from-a-class-video.md"
last_updated: "2026-10-24"
status: published
---

# Salsa lead or follow which foot

Salsa lead or follow which foot has to be settled before you copy the dancer who happens to be larger in the frame. The lead and the follow do not start on the same foot. A shine filmed on one body will teach you the other role if you do not notice.

**Short answer.** Salsa lead or follow which foot is a role question, not a style question. In the on1 basic most social classes teach, the lead breaks forward on the left foot on beat 1 and the follow steps back on the right. Bachata classes often send the lead sideways to the left on 1 and the follow to the right. Copy the body that matches your role. Dancer Mirror does not download videos. It plays the class file you already have.

- A common on1 basic: the lead breaks forward on the left, the follow back on the right.
- A common bachata basic: the lead steps left on 1, the follow steps right.
- Dancer Mirror does not download videos and it does not teach a syllabus.

**Takeaway.** Name your role. Step their first break only if you are that role. A class clip is homework, not a course, and the app will not supply the shines.

## Which role is the body in the frame?

Class videos are filmed on whoever stood nearer the phone. If you follow, and the lead is the one demonstrating a shine, their left-foot break is not your step. You will look diligent and you will be early, backwards, and impossible to lead. Say 'I follow' or 'I lead' before you press play. Childish, and it saves the evening.

Partnerwork filmed from the side is kinder than partnerwork filmed from the front, because you can see who is travelling forward. A front-facing solo demo needs the flip test: their spoken 'left' against your left. Do that on the break step only. Shines are a poor place to discover the role, because shines are designed to look like footwork rather than like a partnership.

## What does on1 actually step?

On1, in the basic social classes still use, the lead steps forward on the left on beat 1, replaces, and closes. On beat 5 they step back on the right. The follow does the opposite: back on the right on 1, forward on the left on 5. On2 moves the break. If your teacher said on2 and you drill an on1 video, you will be a whole beat proud of yourself and late to the lead.

Bachata is not a slower salsa. A common basic sends the lead to the left on 1 and the follow to the right, then a tap. Your school may dance a different basic. The clip from your school wins over a paragraph on a website, including this one. Use the paragraph only to notice that the two roles differ.

An overview of the dance, not a syllabus, is the [salsa article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salsa_(dance)). Your teacher's file is the homework.

**A common on1 basic, lead then follow**

| Bar | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Lead | L forward | replace R | L close | hold | R back | replace L | R close | hold |
| Follow | R back | replace L | R close | hold | L forward | replace R | L close | hold |

## A shine is one body, on purpose

Shines are the solo bit. The teacher shows them alone because a partner would hide the feet. That is useful and dangerous. Useful because you can see the foot. Dangerous because there is no second body reminding you of your role. If you follow, ask whether this shine is the follow's shine or the lead's shine being shown for everyone. Teachers often teach one shine to the whole room and then say 'follows, mirror it' without filming the second version.

If they said mirror it and did not film it, a horizontal flip of their lead shine is a sketch of the follow's version only when the shine stays in place. A shine that travels forward is not a sketch. You will travel into the lead. Mark 'in place only' on the note, and leave travelling shines for the next class.

## The hold you cannot see

Arms in a frame are not decoration. If you flip a video to fix the feet, the lead's left hand may now appear to hold the wrong hand of the follow. Check the hands after the feet, the way a classical dancer checks a mudra after an adavu. One handshake. If it cannot be joined in the room, the picture is the wrong way round for partnerwork even if the feet feel clever.

You cannot practise a real lead against a phone. You can practise your own step so you stop standing on your partner. That is the honest size of this tool. It will not correct your frame. A person has to do that.

## A class video is not a course

Dancer Mirror does not download videos and it does not contain a library of shines. If the file is the one your teacher sent after Tuesday, use it. If you only have a memory of Tuesday, film next Tuesday with permission, or ask for the file. A stranger's upload with the same song is a different timing.

Keeping a file you already have, and not a link, is [learn from a saved video](https://dancermirror.com/guides/learn-a-dance-from-a-saved-video). If the picture itself is the wrong way round, use the mirror guide.

That page is [how to mirror a dance video](https://dancermirror.com/guides/how-to-mirror-a-dance-video).

## Sources

- [What the app does today](https://dancermirror.com/features)
- [How it works](https://dancermirror.com/how-it-works)
- [Salsa (dance), overview](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salsa_(dance))

Practise the side you see. Download from the stores linked on the download page.