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As we are going to see in the video examples, some dancers use the Janus Turn on purpose. But the Janus Turn should only be considered a Three Step Turn gone wrong. For some reason the Follow didn’t step around on step three but step forward or in place or doesn’t move the foot at all and uses a forth step to spin around the third step in order to complete the 360 degree turn.

To use four steps to do a 360 is so mediocre that the Janus Turn isn’t listed as a proper turn anywhere.

The turn is called Janus because during the turn the Follow Pivot-Step-Pivot-Spin (Half Pirouette), facing two directions along the way. Janus is the name of a Roman God with two faces.

The Janus Turn should be avoided for the following reasons:

1. Janus is stationary. In Casino based on natural walking we want each step of the turn to match a step of the walk. This is the only way a turn can be integrated perfectly into the walk in a predictable and consistent manner.
2. Janus makes double turns impossible.
3. Janus prevents the Follow from practicing proper Three Step Turns that work in any situation.

The Janus turn do work in some situations especially for Hammerlock and stating on “1”. In almost all other situations the Janus turn compromises proper dancing. It kills the momentum and brings the dancers too close to one another or makes them end up too far apart or badly positioned. Good dancers manage to “save” it anyway.

We should not actively promote junk for the fun of saving it.

See: Cuban Salsa: Four Step Janus Turn for an in-depth analysis of the Janus turn. The Janus turn should never be done on purpose but is likely to show up anyway cased by error. In that case the Janus turn becomes a necessary evil, a rescue operation for saving a Three Step Turn gone wrong.

Example 1

Example 2

See: Cuban Salsa: Four Step Janus Turn for an in-depth analysis of the Janus turn.

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