Guapea – Overview
| 1 | Guapea Cruzado (forward-forward) |
| 2 | Guapea “on the spot – forward” |
| 3 | Guapea Back-Forward (Open Break – Accordion) |
| 4 | Guapea Clásico |
| 5 | Guapea Mágico |
| 6 | Paseo Guapea |
| 7 | Social Guapea |
Guapea has a central role in Rueda de Casino but was never meant to be used but as an exception to the rule in social couple dancing. Even Rene Gueits, one of the founding fathers of Casino outside of Cuba, from the Salsa Lovers Dance School (founded 1994) in Miami, has this to say about the “Open Break”-Guapea: “This step is only done if you do Casino in Rueda. It is not done if you do one on one”, as can be heard on the most influential DVD “Casino Rueda – Basic Pattern, Beginner Level 2”, from year 2000.
Never the less, Guapea and Dile Que No are by far the most common figure in social one-on-one Casino dancing outside of Cuba. Many Cubans seldom use it in social dancing, and some Cubans call it “Para ti para mi”.
I sometimes use Guapea Cruzado as a dynamic sideways figure in its own right, mostly in “crazy” dancing. Today in more serious social dancing, I mostly use Guapea Mágico, Paseo Guapea and “Social Guapea”. These three figures I have developed myself to suit my needs in “Casino based on natural walking”, where the Followers always step forward by default. But I am sure that somewhere someone has come up with similar figures. That is most likely in a 75 years old dance.
The word “Guapea” doesn’t exist in a Spanish Spanish dictionary, and automatic translation will find the Spanish word that comes closest, Guapo, and translate it to “Handsome”. Guapea is a Cuban/Caribbean term meaning “proud in a boasting, self promoting way”. No one seems to know how and why this name was chosen for a figure that in Rueda de Casino mostly plays the role as a divider between “moves”, and a “waiting game” for the couples to get their bearing, to relax and get re-synchronized before the next Rueda Call.