Cuban Salsa: Panqué into Paseo Walk

The basic Pancake figure, roll her in – roll her out, seems a little weird to me to do in isolation. Something else should happen on “5-6-7”. But some Lead’s manage to do it as a stand-alone in a way that looks and feels fine. When doing Pancake the first time in a dancey, I prefer to use Panqué to start a Paseo Walk.

Using Panqué the first time in a dance is always tricky. Even the Follows that know Panqué and is used to it often confuse it with the start of a handheld Vacilala and gets it wrong. Especially if the Lead is a little too soft in the lead. If the Lead on the other hand leads Panqué with too much force, the Follow is often tilting out of position or she overturns the first half of the Panqué figure creating challenges for the continuation. It is difficult to find the right balance between too soft and too strong.

That is why it can be a good idea to use the first Panqué in a dance to start a Paseo Walk. As long as the Follow is rolled in on “1-2-3”, it is easy to continue it into a Paseo Walk. It doesn’t matter if the Follow is slightly out of balance or if she overruns “1-2-3”.

There are 2-3 benefits:

  1. The leading hand motion can be stronger than normal so the Follow doesn’t miss it.
  2. The Follow has now been reminded that the Panqué figure exists.
  3. Next time the Lead can lead it gentle making advanced options possible.

Video #1 is an example of how safely to use Panqué the first time around to start a “Paseo Walk”:

Now the Follow is used to it, and better prepared for Panqué the next time.