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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: Salsa Lovers, Salsa Racing (“Bayamo en Coche” is not a Bayamo move) or in “Quick and Dirty Guide to Salsa” but we have the Bayamo Clásico move on the Salsa ala Cubana DVDs from Santiago de Cuba published 1999.

There are two types of Bayamo moves. The Leader brings both hands over the head (Arriba) during the first Rodeo Inverso or the Leader keeps the left hand low (Abajo). This tutorial presents one of my favorite Bayamo moves of the Arriba type: Bayamo Caminado.

How to start

Bayamo moves can be started at any time from Caída, the DQN start position, but most examples include a count of eight showing how to get into that position from Open Position using Vacilala into Half Sombrero or using Exhibela into Half Sombrero, as I do in the video. Half Sombrero is optional, it is enough to get into a cross handed double handhold.

1. Cross handed Vacilala or Exhíbela into Half Sombrero
2. Dile Que No into Rodeo Inverso
3. Dile Que No con Coca-Cola into Rodeo Inverso
4. Dile Que No into Opposite Half Sombrero
5. Caminando one or more times
6. Vacilala on 3-5-6
7. Or Vacilala Doble on “1-2-3”, “3-5-6”
8. Or something else

Moves in social dancing

Social dancing should be based on as short building blocks as possible. Creativity, improvisation, playfulness, musicality require that we at anytime can catch the moment, change course and do something different. Long moves kills our ability do dance on anything but the most basic level.

Moves are good for training purposes. It is difficult to learn to dance if you have to improvise every single step. But as soon as you can do without longer moves, you should leave them behind most of the time. The interesting parts of the moves, the best combinations of Basic Figures, will automatically be incorporated into your own basic way of dancing over time.

Some of the best moves can still be used here and there in your dance when your creativity and improvisations run low. Or they can sometimes be a good contrast to you own way of combining basic figures.