Giro just means turn and the term is often used with that broad meaning. But sometimes Giro is used for a subset of turns or incremental turning. So pay attention. There is no consistent use of the term Giro in Cuban Salsa but it ought to be used with a special meaning. We have turning in the form of Vacilala
Read moreThe Lead, poor fellow, never ever experiences any other dance than his own. The Follow on the other hand dances a new dance with each and every single Lead she dances with. If we want to define a social dance like Cuban Salsa, just ask the Follows. Cuban Salsa can be defined as the collective experience of the Follows, of
Read moreIf salsa dancing is going to be more than a secret pleasure for the few outside the Latino world, it really must be better grounded also in the local culture. If we love salsa dancing so much that we want it to become mainstream culture, it must be rooted in ourselves. If we want salsa dancing to become for all
Read moreIf you hold hands when you go social dancing, you are all wrong in most dance styles. We don’t hold hands or should not hold hands. Hands should only touch hands with a varying degree of tension. We use fingertips against fingertips and even hooked fingers. We might rest a hand on or in a hand but we never hold
Read moreIn Cuban Salsa we count 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 to the beat of the music. Since we don’t step on 4 and 8, we normally count “1-2-3-…, 5-6-7-…”. Since we can tap on 4 and 8, as an optional feature, many of us count 1-2-3-tap, 5-6-7-tap. So far so good. The full eight count In Cuban Salsa, and this is important to understand
Read moreI sometimes get so frustrated learning Bachata Sensual that I am wondering if it really is a genuine social dance. I wish the dance well, I am struggling hard to learn it, and have been doing so for quite some time. If learning Bachata is to be a nice experience, it helps a lot to understand how it is different
Read moreThe back-to-back turn, also called the barrel turn, is not that common in Cuban Salsa but we have it in moves like Siete Loco and A Bayamo por Arriba. I like it a lot when done slowly using a full eight count, and I use it in almost every dance. The back-to-back turn makes use of basic steps on the
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