The Suzy Q figure is almost 100 years old. It originated during the great dance-craze era of the 1930s, emerging in the swing and jazz culture of Harlem. Many social dance styles make use of Suzy Q but almost always as a shine or for solo dancing. It is rare to use Suzy Q in partner dancing, hand-in-hand, but that is
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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
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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
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The so-called “Bayamo” moves are simply any cross-handed Rodeo Inverso figure with additional figures for entrance and exit. The oldest such Bayamo figure I know of is on the “Salsa a la Cubano” DVD-2, #17, from Santiago de Cuba. It was recorded in the late 1990s. It is easy to create variations and to give them names like Bayamo por
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We have more than fifty different Coca-Cola turns. One of my favorite Coca-Cola turns is propelled by the Gancho arm and continues into Exhíbela behind the Lead’s back. This Coca-Cola turn is sometimes called “71 Complicado” and it comes with many variations. I prefer to call it “Gancho Coca-Cola” and to add a qualifying label next. The “complicado” label is
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This is not a staged or prepared DEMO DANCE but just a clip from a Practica Training Session. The Lead and Follow have trained once a week for several years but the dance resembles true social dancing anyway. We strongly believe that our training should focus on realistic social dancing based on leading and following. We sometimes train partner figures
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We can start Enchufla from the start position of Open Position, from the START position of Dile Que No (Caída or Promenade Position), the so-called Enchufla por la Derecha, and from the start potion of Rodeo like in Setenta Complicado. We can also start Enchufla from the END of Dile Que No. That is, instead of using DQN to get
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Many Leaders use the Entrada step, that is to “Hook Behind” on “5”. Entrada means “Entrance” in English. It is a step that makes it easier to lead the Follow in the second half of many basic figures. The “Entrance” step opens a clear path for the Follow. The Entrada step is mostly used in right turning circular motion, depending
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The Janus Turn is surprisingly common but is strictly speaking junk when done on purpose because there are much better alternatives. If at all possible a Follow should always use the universal and versatile Three Step Turn technique, the only technique that works in almost any situation. The Janus Turn is almost always something the Follow does by herself on
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Dips play a major role in many social dance styles as well as in Latin Ball Room as the classic way to end a dance with style. The dip is the perfect last period at the end of a successful dance. In modern social dances like Brazilian Zouk and Bachata Sensual, dips play a major part combined with body rolls
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