A social dance should have a good balance of right and left turns. When we have multiple turns after one another, in one direction, it is often necessary immediately to go contra to prevent the Follow from getting dizzy or to help her recover from beginning dizziness. Even if the Follow doesn’t need to go contra it is often a
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The Suzy Q figure is almost 100 years old. It originated during the great dance-craze era of the 1930s, emerging in the swing and jazz culture of Harlem. Many social dance styles make use of Suzy Q but almost always as a shine or for solo dancing. It is rare to use Suzy Q in partner dancing, hand-in-hand, but that is
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The problem with many classic moves like Setenta y Uno Complicado is that they have a tendency to become strait-jackets that makes it almost impossible to be creative and come up with new variations. Instead of doing a move in one and the same way over and over again, we should focus on the core of the move, often just
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Many figures have elements that resamples the wings of a windmill. No surprise that “con Molino” (with mill) often shows up in names of moves. The Lead’s arm movements on “5-6-7” of Dile Que No is one such figure that really deserves to have “Molino” as part of the name. The end of DQN con Molino is at the same
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The so-called “Bayamo” moves are simply any cross-handed Rodeo Inverso figure with additional figures for entrance and exit. The oldest such Bayamo figure I know of is on the “Salsa a la Cubano” DVD-2, #17, from Santiago de Cuba. It was recorded in the late 1990s. It is easy to create variations and to give them names like Bayamo por
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We have more than fifty different Coca-Cola turns. One of my favorite Coca-Cola turns is propelled by the Gancho arm and continues into Exhíbela behind the Lead’s back. This Coca-Cola turn is sometimes called “71 Complicado” and it comes with many variations. I prefer to call it “Gancho Coca-Cola” and to add a qualifying label next. The “complicado” label is
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This is not a staged or prepared DEMO DANCE but just a clip from a Practica Training Session. The Lead and Follow have trained once a week for several years but the dance resembles true social dancing anyway. We strongly believe that our training should focus on realistic social dancing based on leading and following. We sometimes train partner figures
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We can start Enchufla from the start position of Open Position, from the START position of Dile Que No (Caída or Promenade Position), the so-called Enchufla por la Derecha, and from the start potion of Rodeo like in Setenta Complicado. We can also start Enchufla from the END of Dile Que No. That is, instead of using DQN to get
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Many Leaders use the Entrada step, that is to “Hook Behind” on “5”. Entrada means “Entrance” in English. It is a step that makes it easier to lead the Follow in the second half of many basic figures. The “Entrance” step opens a clear path for the Follow. The Entrada step is mostly used in right turning circular motion, depending
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The Janus Turn is surprisingly common but is strictly speaking junk when done on purpose because there are much better alternatives. If at all possible a Follow should always use the universal and versatile Three Step Turn technique, the only technique that works in almost any situation. The Janus Turn is almost always something the Follow does by herself on
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Dips play a major role in many social dance styles as well as in Latin Ball Room as the classic way to end a dance with style. The dip is the perfect last period at the end of a successful dance. In modern social dances like Brazilian Zouk and Bachata Sensual, dips play a major part combined with body rolls
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When the the Leader and Follower walk side-by-side, it is called a Caminando Walk, at least in my dance terminology. The Cásate, Arm-in-Arm Walk is an example of a Caminando Walk. The most common Caminando is the “Half-Sombrero Caminando Walk” often started as a full Enchufla Sombrero bringing the Follower to the Leader’s left side and then lifting the right
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In this tutorial I will show five good ways to start “Bayamo Moves” and use Bayamo por Abajo as example. “Bayamo” is just a traditional name, used by a subset of dancers, for cross-Handed Rodeo Inverso variations. Rodeo Inverso figures are important to balance right turning motion, if we are going to fly on both wings. The classic way to
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Rodeo can be used in at least two different ways: 1) Cowboy-style with a “swinging” arm, a lot of movement and momentum and 2) Relaxed promenade-style with the Follow just walking around the Lead. The “Rodeo Walk into Vacilala” in this tutorial is of the promenade type and it can be generalize like this: I this case I like to
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The most common Coca-Cola turn is done as last part of Dile Que No around the Leader on “5-6-7”. “Coca-Cola” is a nickname for a traveling left turn most often stepped as a Three Step Turn of two times 180 degrees. Coca-Cola “Around the Lead” is so common that if a video is named “Coca-Cola”, we can be pretty sure
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The “Contra Vacilala” has been around for a long time but we only have a few tutorials, and they are often badly named and too often the Follow steps private, homegrown, random junk. I know of four different “Contra Vacilala” figures (there are probably more). They all start from a two handed wrapped position making it possible to unwrap the
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A transcript of the speak in the video. Welcome to this Social Dance Rant Number ONE about the paradox of Good looking Junk! Could be relevant for most social dance styles. My name is Jesper Tverskov. When we watch a dance video, it is natural to think that if a dance figure or turn technique looks good and it works
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Down-Under figures are prolific in Cuban Casino, that is figures where the Leader ducks under one or two arms. “Down-under” figures as well as “stepping up over” the arms are part and parcel of the Cuban (juvenile) Nudo (junk) tradition that has given Casino a bad name of being awkward and clumsy non-dancing. But some of these figures are too
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This is one of my favorite social moves because it is both advanced and easy. It works with a surprising success rate with a broad spectrum of Followers and it creates good flow and momentum. A good Follower can turn left or right, 360 degree, starting on any step, but it is a tradition to mostly start on “2”, “5”
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Bayamo moves are just combos of crossed two handed figures taking the Follower around the Leader with Rodeo Inverso as the central figure. They are a good way to get more left turning circular motion into the dance. I know more than 10 such common moves with many examples uploaded to YouTube. They don’t exist in the Miami Rueda Tradition:
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Kentucky is a popular move, hundreds of dance instructors have uploaded it to YouTube. It works equally well for Rueda de Casino and in one-on-one social dancing. As is so often the case, nobody remembers the origin of it or the reason for the name. It is not in the DVD collections of “Salsa a la Cubana”, “Salsa Lovers” or
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I hardly use named moves any more, small mini-dances, couple choreographies made for Rueda de Casina mostly. The reason is obvious. If we want playful, inspired dancing, if we want creative and music driven dancing, the dancers must be able to catch the moment, to modify, change and develop their dance step by step. That is, we must mostly use
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This is one of my favorite Casino videos on YouTube, more than 10 years old. The style of Carlos Rafael Gonzalez is mesmerizing at moments, especially in this video with Jennifer as Follower. Jennifer is a forward dancer, forward by default, no back-rocking, she only takes a back-step if the Leader clearly leads her into doing so. This is right
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I like Carousel figures where the Leader and the Follower swing around a common axis in between them. Similar to Adiós but instead of closed position we have half-open position. There are many variations. Many Leaders have been using the Carousel over the years with or without a meaningful name. With this tutorial I have generalized many of the variations
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The most important way to get better in social dancing is to improve the basic steps and turn techniques in more and more combinations of basic figures. In this tutorial we are focusing on the steps of the Follower. Because the Leader can step however he wants as long as he manages to make the Follow step spot on with
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The Exhíbela Trio is simply three Exhíbela variations that work well together. First the basic Exhíbela, one or more times, next Vacilala inside Exhíbela, one or more times, and at the end Exhíbela but instead of going back into Caída position, the Follow is walked into the start position of Open Position or into a “7-8-1” pivot as shown in
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A Lead should know and use hundreds of basic figures and moves but only use a tiny selection in any one dance. It is much better to use ten figures five times than fifty figures one time in a dance. The benefits of a small selection, and of repeating many of the figures several times are multitude: In a nutshell:
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The Exhíbela “turn” is one of the most misunderstood basic figures in Cuban Salsa. It is not a turn but a walk, a Casino Clásico variation. Exhíbela means “show her to the world”. Some dance schools teach Exhíbela as a sideways Vuelta right turn with back-rocking. Exactly like Salsa on One, LA style, would mimic Cuban Salsa. A turn is
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The classic Coca-Cola left turn is done as the last half of Dile Que No, on “5-6-7”, around the Lead. The classic way to proceed is for the Lead to add another Dile Que No and bring the Follow into the start position of Open Position. But we have many alternative ways to do Coca-Cola turns from Dile Que No.
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Paséala is a classic basic figure of one count of eight, often repeated one or more times. It is a closed position walk starting from Caída position and back to Caída positoin. Just like for Exhibela, the Follow walks three steps forward, and three steps back, still in forward walking position. For Paséale the Follow pivots left on “3-4-5” and
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Enchufla is one of the most important basic figures in Cuban Salsa. In most named longer moves, Enchufla is likely to appear one or more times. No other basic figure have so many options for what to do at the half-way position. Many of the options are basic figures in their own right. Enchufla can be started from more positions
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Coming from Dile Que No into Open Position, I mostly skip Guapea: I don’t want to stop-up, I don’t want to do the “back-and-forward” Guapea Horror Show, or to suddenly go sideways using Cruzado Guapea. I do use the versatile “forward-forward” Guapea (Cruzado), the traditional Guapea GOAT, from time to time and in certain situations as an ordinary figure in
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For a long time I have wanted to create a rock solid Titanic figure for Casino, and I have collected video clips of such figures from other social dance styles for inspiration. Both walks on a straight line and in circular motion. A month ago, I decided to give the Titanic walk a serious go. It took me and my
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Coming from Dile Que No into Open Position, I mostly skip Guapea: I don’t want to stop-up, I don’t want to do the “back-and-forward” Guapea Horror Show, or to suddenly go sideways using Cruzado Guapea. I do use the versatile “forward-forward” Guapea (Cruzado), the traditional Guapea GOAT, from time to time and in certain situations as an ordinary figure in
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The Grapevine is a universal dance pattern used in many dance styles. It is not common in Cuban Salsa. I don’t know of any named classic move containing a Grapevine figure. I have wanted to use such a figure in my Casino for a long time. Fortunately, Grapevine figures are common in Cuban Son. I have looked at a lot
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This iconic video clip is from the 1939 film, “Another Thin Man”. The dancers, René Rivero Guillén and Ramona Ajón (Estella), where originally from Matanzas in Cuba. The video clip is fabulous, mesmerizing. The Mother of all Cuban Son. There is only one problem. The dance is completely dominated by the Leader. This is a common problem in Cuban social
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If a Follow steps forward by default on 6 out of 6 steps of a count of Eight, creating an ongoing forward motion, it is easy for the Lead to add turns, left or right, all over the place, at the start of the Eight Count, in the middle of the Eight count and at the end of an eight
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The figure name Dile Que Si is a good example of the anarchy and of the complete lack of a textbook authority in Casino, Cuban Salsa. Just because we have a figure called Dile Que No (Say no to her), many people think that there must be a corresponding figure called Dile Que Si (Say no to her). But there
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The Rainbow, Arcoíris, is often depicted as a brain dead Rueda Couple Move, always done the same way and often rushed, that is, the Rainbow goes up and down on “1-2-3” and into Hammerlock on “5-6-7”. I prefer to enjoy the Rainbow, using at least a full count, and first to exit back-to-back on the next count. Social dancing should
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Many Leads across many sub-styles of Cuban Salsa use Paseo Walks in a box-shaped pattern starting from Open Position and sometimes called Caminala. The Lead can change handholds for each half count or use the basic left-2-right handhold all the way, and one can walk the figure one or more times. After one or more Paseo Básico walks, many Leads
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I first saw this sequence of basic figures deep inside a demo dance of a Polish couple, 2016. I don’t know if it was pure inspiration, or one of the standard moves of the Leader. I don’t know if he has ever used it again or if has a name for it. I link to the video below. I liked
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Thank you to Diana Rodriguez Garcia and Ismaray Aspirini for this workshop dance video that gives us an opportunity to talk about some of the important issues in Cuban Salsa. The video, labeled Casino con Trucos (tricks), was first published on Ismaray Aspirina’s FB Page, April 7, 2022, and shared by Diana Rodriguez Garcia on her FB Page April 8.
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The name Vacilala Continuado seams so obvious and straight forward as a name of a figure that it must exist. But it doesn’t until now. At least not as a generalised figure, easy to replicate. Except that we do have a short “Continuado” called Vacilala Double. But even double turns are surprisingly rare iCuban Salsa. They are difficult on a
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For many years I have worked hard to reduce the use of named moves in my social dancing. Almost all named moves are fixed sequences of basic figures with a beginning and an ending, a mini-dance following the Rueda template for how to construct couple moves for use in Rueda de Casino. Just think of it! To base a social
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From the start position of Open Position almost all basic figures start a “right turning circular motion”, the Follow walks around the Lead. The Follow can just walk for the full count of Eight, or she can turn right or left on the first or on the second half of the walk or on both. By using different handholds, normal,
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Genuine Cuban Salsa, based on the Circle and Walks, makes it possible for both the Lead and the Follow to step forward simultaneously, on all six steps of a count of Eight. This is unique for Cuban Salsa. It is simply not possible in “forward-and-back” type of dancing in the rectangular slut of X-Body Salsa. The purpose of the Lead’s
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For a Cásate, “Get Married”, walk in real life, the Lead can put his arm over and around the Follow’s arm or, just as good, the Lead’s arm can get under and around. In social dancing the Lead should normally always put his arm over and around because that makes it easier to disengage again by turning the Follow out
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This Video Demo of Cuban Son, 2021, is good to illustrate a few things about Cuban Son and Casino. The demo dance is five minutes long. The first four minutes are good even excellent, the last minute, 20 percent of the dance, is a disaster. Before I explain why, let me say a few things about Cuban Son in general.
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The Echeverría twists are popular in Rueda de Casino mostly done from Guapea that doesn’t work that well in social dancing. Also it is an unusual basic figure most Follows don’t expect in social dancing and for that reason it is a little difficult to lead. I have made another tutorial about the basics of Echeverría, called Echeverría in social
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Both Vacilala and Enchufla are often continued into Rodeo. This continuation can be done already on the last part of the two figures, on “5-6-7”, or the Rodeo can start on the next “1-2-3”. Sometimes the Rodeo figure is hard to recognize. It is more like a “walk around the Lead” figure, “por Detràs” (behind). But both Vacilala por Detrás
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