The handfree Vacilala is not only the most iconic signature move of Cuban Salsa, it is also one of a very few moves, where the Follow can do what she pleases from the moment she has stepped forward on count one, and the Lead let go of her hand. Vacilala por Detrás (detrás means behind) adds an extra count of
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A new creative move from Stanislav Shvertsov og Natalia Nebogatikova, “Social Dance Studio’, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, 2021. Unfortunately they don’t name their moves but just call their videos for “Salsa Cubana (Casino)”. And they don’t walk an extra mile in order to make their videos more useful to the rest of the world. I have named the move Abanico con
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This is a brand new Coca-Cola turn, at least I haven’t seen it before, published by the “Social Dance Studio” in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, 2021, featuring Stanislav Shvetsov and Natalia Nebogatikova. The move is probably a “Stanislav”. I instantly liked this “no name” move, and in order to make it easier to remember, I have given it the descriptive name
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I like good variations of even the most perfect move, and I love to practice variations I normally don’t use: 1) They could turn out being just as good or even better or at least useful in some situations, 2) and the more variations you practice, the easier it becomes to improvise to music, to be music driven. We should
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This new Bayamo move is a Bayamo por Arriba (Arriba = “up”) variation. I stumbled upon it in a class video from “DC Cacineros”. For Bayamo por Arriba, the Lead brings both hands over his head as the Follow is lead behind the Lead’s back. There are many options for how to continue. The most popular are to add a
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When I saw this unspecified move in the middle of a poor quality video from a Yoandy Villaurrutia and Oliwia Rylska workshop, 2019, I said to myself: “Yes, this is the move I have been looking for”. Probably there was no move, most likely just a successful Yoandy improvisation based on years of experience and hard training. But I saw
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A screw is a screw, Tornillo is a screw, and in Cuban Salsa (Casino) Tornillo is a right turn based on a very unique, almost acrobatic, handhold making a double turn possible by folding out the handhold in one go! In the social dance “Son”, one of the parents of “Casino”, we have a whole family of very different moves
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This is a surprisingly simple and excellent variation of the Siete con Coca-Cola classic, Miami style. The move is a typical Yoandy Villaurrutia move, it might be attributed to him, at least he has promoted it in recent years. I don’t know what Yoandy calls the move but he often uses “Coca-Cola” and “Moderno” as part of the moves he
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This is an important move because Para el Medio is not only the standard way to start a Rueda de Casino but it is also one of the best ways to start a social 1-on-1 dance. Para el Medio means “toward the middle”. It is sometimes shortened to Pal Medio or Al Medio, or El Medio or just Medio. The
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The Panqué (pancake) move is also called Siete (“7”), but in Rueda the move is most often called Panqué. Since the Follow is rolled in like a pancake or a burrito, the Panqué name makes a lot of sense. Even the most basic Panqué, “rolling in and out”, one count of eight, is a surprisingly difficult move unless the Follow
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