Cuban Salsa: Follow’s free hand in Panqué/Siete halfway position
How should the Follow position her free arm and hand in the Panqué halfway position? A Follow should be as free and independent as possible within the limitations of a dance based on leading and following. As a general rule of thumb a figure or move must not require anything of the Follow except basic following skills, common sense and natural behavior.
Social dancing should have as few choreographed moves as possible where the Follow must know the details of how to act in advance. It is unrealistic that Follows should learn and remember details about each and every move except for the basic structural figures like Enchufla, Exhibela, Dile Que No, etc. Moves must be leadable.
For Panqué there should not exist rules for where the Follow should have her free arm and hand. The Follow is allowed to do what is natural and logical in the situation. When she gets into the start position of a Pancake, the Follow most likely have her free arm positioned by her hip, like when doing basic steps, arm bend around 90 degrees. If she also ends up like that in the Pancake halfway position, no one can blame her.
When the Follow pivots around at the beginning of Panqué, the arm is likely to swing a little out by the momentum. Some Follows might force it back into the hip position or place it on stomach, heart or by the left or right shoulder. A Follow can even bring her arm over her head with a Hair Comb gesture and place her hand on top of her left shoulder. All these options are based on what Follows actually do as documented in hundreds of videos.
In Video #1, I present some of the many ways Follows are likely to hold the free arm and hand in the half-way position of Panqué. And I show how one move, Siete Loco, breaks the rules.
Siete Loco
The Miami Rueda tradition developed a couple of Siete figures, like Siete Loco, not based on leading and following. Siete Loco and a number of moves starting like Siete Loco require that the Follow overturn and present her free arm and hand on top of or beside her left shoulder easy for the Lead to grab. It is not enough that the arm is placed by the right shoulder by chance. It must be placed there deliberately with the intention of being grabbed by the Lead for Siete Loco to work seamlessly.
These requirements are evil because they dictate behavior a Follow must use in each and every Pancake figure. The Follow never knows if a Pancake will continue into Siete Loco. That is she must act as if it is Siete Loco each and every time despite the fact that the requirements are irrelevant for all Panqué figures except for Siete Loco.
This is madness! The exact opposite of what social dancing based on leading and following should be all about.
Siete Loco is an example of Rueda couple choreographies (moves) that work in Rueda de Casino, because they are announced by the Rueda Caller. Both the Lead and the Follow hear the Rueda Caller and know in advance that a specific version of Pancake is coming. In Rueda there is no need for leading and following.
Making Siete Loco leadable
It is possible to make Siete Loco leadable. The Lead could show the Follow a High-Five with his free hand at the start of a Pancake figure to signal that he wants to grab her hand in the halfway position. It works if the Follow knows Siete Loco. If she doesn’t it will look pretty weird that the Lead shows a High-Five in the middle of a dance for nothing. And the Follow might wonder for the rest of the dance what that HighFive was all about. Or she might even clap the Lead’s hand right a way.
The Lead could just as well whisper: “Next Siete Loco”! We are clearly into hacks.
The only sensible way to lead Siete Loco is to start Panqué two handed bringing the Follow into the halfway position with the Lead already holding her left hand. We could also get into that position without using the Panqué figure.
Rueda and One-on-One Moves
I strongly believe that partner moves in Rueda de Casino, moves that can be done by each couple independently, must be leadable even when used in Rueda de Casino. They don’t have to for the sake of the Rueda because they are called by the Rueda Caller as a substitute for leading and following. But such moves will unavoidable spill over into social one-on-one dancing where leadability is a requirement.
It can take years of frustration for Leads to find out why some of the great classic Rueda moves don’t work with Follows that are not used to them from Rueda de Casino. For years I believed I should just train hard and learn how to lead them better and that I deserved stronger Follows! Today I know that I and my Follows weren’t the problem: The moves were simply junk.
Summa Summarum: Not leadable moves like the traditional use of Siete Loco should never be used. They should cease to exist unless changed into something that is leadable.
