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The Panqué is the original name used in Cuba. In Miami Cuban immigrants change it to Siete (Seven). The Siete name is almost never used in Cuba. I prefer the Panqué name because in many countries a pancake is flat and often rolled tight like a Burrito. Since the Panqué figure consists of a “roll her in – roll her out” motion, the Pancake name is good because it helps us remember the figure.

Nine out of ten dancers are not likely to remember what Siete is but most of them know what Pancake is. The irony is that in Cuba a Panqué bread is not flat and not rolled but more like a loaf type of bread.

Many Siete Figures

Surprisingly many Panqué figures have been recorded and uploaded to YouTube. Most of them developed or inspired by the “Salsa Racing” and “Salsa Lovers” dance schools in Miami. We have at least 20 more or less common figures. Their names start with “Siete” like Siete con Coca-Cola, Siete Moderno, Siete Loco, etc. The Siete moves were made for Rueda de Casino. They are often choreographies not based on leading and following but they work in Rueda because the Rueda Caller announces them both to the Lead and to the Follow.

In couple dancing Panqué figures are rare for a number of reason. Even the basic Panqué is difficult to get right, either the Lead leads with too much force or too soft. And many of the advanced “Siete” figures are either not that leadable or more like show choreografies that don’t have a chance in realistic social dancing.

Pancake as a Basic figure

Pancake is a basic figure of one count of eigth: roll her in, roll her out. When we say a move starts with Siete or Pancake, we almost always talk about a move that starts with the first “1-2-3” of Pancake (roll her in), and instead of rolling her out as in the basic figure, we roll her out in a new way. The “5-6-7” of Pancake becomes Pancake+Something.

It is important to note that Panqué is an unusual figure. It is “on the spot” and linear in nature. Like Forward-and-back. The leading is very similar to a handheld Vacilala starting on “1” for the hand motion. The Lead remains in front of the Follow preventing her from moving forward. Instead she does a half Pirouette.

If the Lead’s hand movement is too soft the Follow doesn’t get it. If it is too strong the Follow overturns or complains that the leading is painful. All Lead’s experience from time to time that nothing happens when they start Panqué. If the Follow hasn’t tried it for some time she is likely to fail it the first time around.

For years I had problems making Pancake work when I started it face-to-face. It is much, much easier to get in an out of the figure when started from a wide open start position like the start of a Paseo walk.

Rueda Fun

In Rueda de Casino there is a long tradition of “fun” moves starting with Panqué including “naughty” variations. Moves like Pancake con Chocolade, Panqué with Sneak Attack, Panqué con Castigate (Punishment), “Panqué stepping on the Follows’ foot”. Many Cuban Leads and Copycats love such moves, but just as many Leads and Followers consider them juvenile Cuban Junk, sexistic or bad taste.

Coca-Cola

The Siete/Panque family of moves are not that difficult when done in classes, workshops and in Rueda de Casino, because the Follow knows what is coming. The moves are often surprisingly difficult in social dancing, because they are difficult or impossible to lead.

Many of the Siete figures continue with a Coca-Cola turn around the Lead. But the start position of these Coca-Cola turns are not ideal with the Follow’s back to the Lead in Siete halfway position. The Follow need to angel her left foot to the extreme left but there is no way to lead that. Most Follows end up doing a Coca-Cola turn that is far from well-formed.

Siete con Coca-Cola is almost always presented turning the Follow sideways to the left around the Lead in a L-shaped pattern. It has a chance of working in Rueda where the Follow knows what is coming. But in one-on-one dancing, the fail rate is high. The Coca-Cola almost always succeed but at a cost. Seldom good enough to continue into another Coca-Cola turn.

Doing two Coca-Cola turns in a row, that is e.g. on “5-6-7-1-2” with 180 degrees between each step, is a good way of testing the first Coca-Cola turn. If the Follow can’t make two it is because her first turn is done with bad technique. The problem with L-shaped turning is that it makes bad, homegrown techniques more likely.

I use many Coca-Cola turn. I often boast that I know 57 different Coca-Cola turns. I always do them on a curved or straight line in forward walking motion. Turning forward, walking on a curved line is by far the most versatile because the Lead has the extra option of continuing under the arm giving us a handful of positional options that doesn’t exist when turning straight forward or sideways L-shaped.

For that reason I never use the sideways, L-shaped Coca-Cola we almost always see when Siete con Coca-Cola is used. It is simply based on bad principles and in anyway far inferior to turning forward on a curved line. Fortunately we can also turn forward on a curved line when doing Siete con Coca-Cola, Pancake with Coca-Cola.

But Pancake with Coca-Cola turning the Follow forward on a curved line is still inferior to a traditional Coca-Cola turn from Dile Que No. From DQN the Coca-Cola turn starts from momentum giving us better flow. Starting Coca-Cola from Pancake half-way position is a stationary point of departure.

Siete Loco

Siete Loco is a popular figure with several Complicado versions. They are only possible if the Follow overturns the first half of the Panqué figure and presents her left hand at the top of her right shoulder or sticking out besides it. In almost all videos, I have seen, except one, there is no prepping of the Follow. The figure is done like in Rueda de Casino where no prepping is necessary because the Rueda Caller announces the figure.

In social dancing, a Follow should not overturn and present her hand because in most Siete figures the hand is not used and the overturning creates instability. But there is a way to prep the Follow into overturning and presenting her hand:

If the Lead wants to do Siete Loco type of figures with overturning and the Follow presenting her hand easy to catch by her shoulder, the Lead can show a High Five with his right hand as he starts Siete. It signals to the Follow that the Lead wants her hand in the half-way position and that she must overturn.

How to lead Siete Loco

For many years I have considered Siete Loco and other Siete figures that require that the Follow’s left hand lands on her right shoulder for utterly fake because there is no way to lead them. In most Siete figures the hand is not needed at her shoulder, so why should she place it there?

In the original videos from “Salsa Racing” and “Salsa Lovers”, the Follow’s left hand lands on her right shoulder by magic, or as used in Rueda where a Caller announces the figure. There is no leading.

Actually there is a way to lead the move. As I and my training partner Mona shows in the next video. The Lead simply shows a High Five to the Follow as he starts the Panqué. This indicates to the Follow that the Lead wants to grab her left hand in the halfway position of Panqué.

If the hand lands over her shoulder easy to grab, the Lead can proceed with the two handed Coca-Cola. If not he simply continues with some other Panqué figure where two hands are not needed like a one handed Coca-Cola.

In the next video clip from the Polish most excellent Agassi couple, we see how the Lead shows a High Five at the start of Siete Loco, signaling that he wants to catch the Follow’s right hand in the half-way position of Panqué.

Second thoughts

Using a high-five to indicate to the Follow that she should present her hand by her right shoulder is clearly a hack. It only works if the Follow knows Siete Loco and acts accordingly. If the Follow doesn’t know Siete Loco and ignores the High-Five the dance will look rather silly from outside.

On top of it, the Follow might wonder for the rest of the dance what that High-Five was good for. Is that really how Leads should treat Follows? The Follow might even misunderstand the hand signal and start clapping the High-Five as is common in Guapea.

In my opinion, there is no proper way to fix Siete Loco. There is no quick fix worthy of serious social dancing based on leading and following.

If one really likes Siete Loco figures, a solution could be to start them with a two handed Pancake eliminating the hand problem.

Video #3 is a “Proof of Concept”! 14. October 2026. I gave Helle my first two handed Siete Loco figure eliminating the hand problem. It works!

We don’t even need Pancake to get into the half-way position of Siete Loco with the Follow’s right hand already grabbed. There are several other ways to do it.

Also see: Follow’s free hand in Panqué/Siete halfway position

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