Partner dance is done with a leader and a follower. Traditionally, the man is the leader and the woman is the follower, but it can be danced with a same sex couple. Facing each other, the leader places his right hand on the follower's left shoulder blade and keeps his elbow raised so as to create a shelf for the follower's arm. The follower places her arm on the shelf; her hand falls on the leader's right shoulder. The leader holds his left arm up with the palm of his hand facing his partner. The follower places her hand in the leader's hand, and they both close their fingers lightly over their partner's hand. They are now standing in a closed dance frame. Keeping a solid dance frame will make leading and following easier.
The basic Mambo step pattern consists of six steps. There is a forward basic, and a back basic. The forward basic starts on the left foot. Step forward on your left, replace your weight back onto your right foot, and step back on your left. For the back basic, step back on your right foot, replace your weight forward onto your left foot, and then step forward with your right foot. Standing in dance hold, the leader starts with the forward basic while the follower is dancing the back basic. Then the leader dances the back basic while the follower dances the forward basic. Keep repeating the basic steps until they feel natural.
The Mambo dance was built around Mambo music. The main accents in Mambo music are on the upbeat, or count two in each measure. The music is written in four/four timing, which means there are four beats to each measure. In order to reflect the heavier beat in the music, the dance starts on count two instead of count one as most dances do. Hold count one, and begin the basic pattern breaking forward on count two, replace on count three, and step on count four. Repeat for the same timing for both basics.