Cuban Salsa: Dile Que No con Molino and Vacilala
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 time the start of a new Dile Que No with a hands-free Vacilala. This gives us a nice looking unique figure that scales well: It’s an impressive social figure at any level. Good enough to be used in any dance.
Vacilala turns from Dile Que No are rare. Dile Que No brings the Follow into left circular motion making Coca-Cola LEFT turns more natural. But traveling right turns on a left curve are surprisingly easy because each turn must be less than 360 degree in order to step on the curve. Vacilala from Dile Que No might feel odd at first but it is easy and works well when the Follow has tried it a couple of times.
In order to get around the Lead, the Vacilala must around 270 degrees on a left curve. I call Vacilala of “270” degrees for “Vacilala Light”. Dile Que No with “Vacilala Double” has two turns of 270 degrees.
Break down
The “mill” arm movements must be timed to finish at the end of the first Dile Que No. The Lead must have the hands on the Follow’s shoulders at the start of the second Dile Que No to signal the coming of a hands-free Vacilala.
The difficult part is to lead/push the Follow as gentle as possible into Vacilala on “3” but hard enough to make her feel the lead. The Follow must turn by herself as if by her own free will. She might go for a single three step turn, “3-5-6” the first time but experienced Follows will sense that a double turns, a five step turn, “3-5-6-7-1”, is the better solution in the situation.
In this type of a free Vacilala, the Lead will most likely pick the Follow up again right away but some Leads might want to try other ways to continue the figure.
The Lead must be prepared also for Back-Rocking Follows that go “mediocre” and just do “Vacilala Double” on the spot like a spin turn forcing the Lead to stop up. For a free Vacilala there is no guarantee that the Follow levels up and go for a traveling double turn.
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