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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 one or two counts of eight.

And then start exploring the surroundings of this “core”. How many good ways do we have to get to the core? How many good ways do we have to continue from the “core”. Today I do Setenta y Uno Complicado in at least ten very different ways making the original move almost irrelevant. I can’t even remember the original ending.

The “core” of a move

The core of Setenta y Uno Complicado, is to make the Follow do an Exhibela behind the Lead’s back, and then continue into something. The most common way to get into the start position of this Exhíbela is to start with Setenta Gancho (“71”) and then continue with Dile Que No con Coca-Cola. But this is optional.

We could also start with a left turned Hammerlock, that is Hammerlock Inverso. No Gancho and no Coca-Cola. Or we could get into the Gancho position without the Setenta, or we could do the Dile Que No con Coca-Cola without the Gancho arm movement.

This is just to remind us that a “move” is better thought of as an umbrella for a handful of options and variations. Don’t do moves, do variations.

Same video at YouTube

Enchufla con Coca-Cola Light

In this tutorial I accept the classic Setenta y Uno Complicado as it is except that I use the Exhíbela pattern to get into Setenta y Uno, the characteristic Gancho Arm. Instead I want to focus on the continuation after the Exhíbela behind the Lead’s back.

One of my favorite continuations is to do an Enchufla continued into a Coca-Cola Light (270 degrees). I like this combination because it gives a good flow with a lot of momentum. And because it is true social: Easy to lead and follow, the success rate is very high.

Instead of using Enchufla into Coca-Cola Light, I sometimes do Coca-Cola (“2-3-5”) into Coca-Cola Light (“5-6-7”, 270 degrees) or even a Coca-Cola (“2-3-5”) into another Coca-Cola (“5-6-7”, 360 degrees). But the success rate of these much more advanced options is low and the Follow most likely needs to recover.

One could even argue that the easier solution, Enchufla into Coca-Cola Light, is better than the more advanced options. Not only is the success rate much higher, it gives us a relaxed look and feel with the same good flow and momentum and it is relatively easy to continue the Coca-Cola Light into several more Coca-Cola Lights.

I will show the multiple Coca-Cola Light version in another tutorial.

END