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Setenta Nuevo is a Complicado making Setenta Nuevo Complicado a double Complicado. The move is attributed to Maykel Almuina from the notorious “Salsa Lovers” DVD based course in “Casino”, Cuban Salsa. Notorious because the execution of the moves sometimes has major issues, but the many DVDs are a great archive of standard Cuban Salsa moves for anyone to implement their own way.

“DVD Volume 7” is special. It only contains Maykel’s selfmade moves, which alone is impressive. The moves are very “virtuoso”, Ball Room style with long steps to be seen, and somehow too much Maykel’s own private style to catch on. As far as I know, none of the moves have been picked up by other Leads or dance schools, with the exception of maybe Siete Alborotado and the following:

I like Maykel’s Setenta Nuevo Complicado for its impressive back-to-back Coca Cola ending. Nice to know that we can do this Coca Cola whenever we end up back-to-back on 1-2-3!

How to lead it!

The slow motion section makes it easy to see the potential problems of how to lead the move. The way Maykel does it is not credible. It works with a partner that knows what to do, but not with any Follow at advanced level. Note that after the Lead’s hook turn or Ronde as it is also called, Maykel side rocks (!) and stretches the Follow’s left arm out, and releases her hand. When Maykel turns around and faces the back of the Follow, he expects that the Follow has bend her arm correctly behind her back in order for him to grab her hand again!

For this move to work with any Follow at advanced level, I suggest that the Lead instead of side rocking after the hook turn steps forward a little to the right, and instead of stretching the Follow’s arm, he should bend it in place and push it gently to the right before releasing the hand. Now he can turn around with a good chance of finding the Follow’s hand where he wants it. Don’t take my word for it, test it out yourself.

Also note the other tricky part. When the Lead turns the Follow around by her left arm starting from behind her head, he must bring her right arm up to become part of the turn, and exactly at the right moment, he must release the Follow’s right hand and grab it again so it comes under her left arm. Something to remember or the move fails completely!

Optimized stepping

When we see the slow motion part at the end of the video, the Lead’s not that optimized “Ball Room” stepping sticks out. It is obvious that Maykel could win precious time with smaller steps. It is also obvious that his back rocking and side rocking are mostly lost steps. He would win time and become less hectic by stepping forward as much as possible, being closer to his Follow. It might end up less “Ball Room” but more Cuban Salsa. Decide for yourself.

If you are interested in other Maykel moves, they can be found move for move, labeled under “DVD 07”, at one of Salsa Lovers YouTube Channels. Here is a link to the full DVD 07.