What are the basic Cuban Salsa dance steps I should know?

A dip is a fairly advanced Salsa move. The basic movement occurring in the dance patterns of the various salsa styles is the stepping on the beat of the music. Salsa is best grouped in pairs of 4-beat patterns counted '1-2-3.-5-6-7.' The leader starts on count 1 by stepping with the left foot. In the late 1950s, but it was called “casino” and “rueda de casino” Before the term Salsa began being used in New York City in the 1970s, this dance was called casino and rueda de casino, because it was danced at athletic recreation centers called “Casinos” in Havana, Cuba. Here is a video interview with the founders of rueda de casino.

• Casino Cubano was produced to give Latin dancers around the World insight into how Cubans dance 'salsa' or what is known in Cuba as 'casino'. Through instruction, demonstration, and performance, Casino Cubano is your introductory guide into this exciting popular dance style - a style that draws heavily from Cuba's rich cultural traditions.
• Names of basic salsa elements, which include Hand holds, Directions, Actions and Positions; A written description of each element; A visual example, which allows you to view each element; A symbol (or code) for each element taken from our Salsa Language. Remember that different dancers may use different names to describe the same element.

The so-called “Cuban style” is the original way of dancing salsa. It is, unlike the styles that have arisen in recent years, the one that takes the most elements and steps from previous existing dances:: son montuno, urban son, guaracha, mambo, making it the most complex Cuban dance hall, and the most fun to dance too!

The first salsa steps originated in the Casino Deportivo de La Habana and other dance halls in Havana at the end of the 50s, hence the name it has in Cuba: casino dance. The casino seems a rather playful, rhythmic and lively dance and not oriented towards competition like other ballroom dancing. It is, in a way, a ballroom dance, but in 'shirt sleeves rolled up' that still continues to evolve. In the late sixties, it regained its popularity and the world has not stopped dancing salsa since.

Here are several combinations of basic steps that must be mastered in order to execute correctly the various figures - some of which are very complicated:

6 basic steps of Cuban dance you have to know
● Step 1. The basic step of Cuban salsa
● Step 2. Dile Que No (Tell Him No)
● Step 3. Enchufla (Plug in)
● Step 4. Bayamo
● Step 5. 70
● Step 6. Croqueta (Croquette)

If you have danced salsa or want to learn just tag us in your comments on social networks

Enjoyed this article? Don't forget to share.

Related posts

Comments

In Cuba, a popular dance known as Casino was marketed abroad as Cuban-style salsa or Salsa Cubana to distinguish it from other salsa styles when the name was popularized in the 1970s. There is however a growing consensus (e.g. as evidenced in widely read popular online blogs on Cuban dance and music such as www.sonycasino.com) that Casino and Salsa are ontogenetically and structurally different enough to not be considered different styles of one and the same dance. This growing realisation is partly based on actual social science research on the subject matter such as Ariana Orejuela's (2006)^[1] thorough historiographic account of Cuban ethnomusicological and ethnochoreographic traditions.Dancing Casino is an expression of popular social culture; Many Cubans consider casino a part of their social and cultural activities centering on their popular music.

The origins of the name Casino are casinos deportivos, the dance halls where a lot of social dancing was done among the better off, white Cubans during the mid-1950s and onward.

Historically, Casino traces its origin as a partner dance from Son Cubano, fused with partner figures and turns adopted from the Cuban Mambo, Cuban Cha Cha Cha, Rumba Guaguancó and North American Jive. As with Son, Danzón and Cha Cha Cha, it is traditionally, though less often today, danced a contratiempo. This means that, distinct from subsequent forms of salsa, no step is taken on the first and fifth beats in each clave pattern and the fourth and eighth beat are emphasised. In this way, rather than following a beat, the dancers themselves contribute in their movement, to the polyrythmic pattern of the music.

Casino dance is often intertwined with Afro-Cuban dance traditions, which many dancers spontaneously draw from in a more or less structured or ad hoc fashion, though this is not per se definitory of the dance itself. In the same way that a sonero (lead singer in Son and Salsa bands) may 'quote' other, older songs in their own, a Casino dancer frequently improvises references to other dances, integrating movements, gestures and extended passages from the folkloric and popular heritage. This is particularly true of African descended Cubans. Such improvisations might include extracts of rumba, dances for African deities, the older popular dances such as Cha Cha Cha and Danzón as well as anything the dancer may feel.

Culture and geography[edit]

Culturally, Casino is danced as an interplay between genders and feeling the music (Sabor) as its main ingredients. Much of the interplay of Casino style dancing is based on the broader Afro-Caribbean cultural context with emphasis on sexual interplay, teasing and everyday experience.

Geographically, in Latin America, Casino and its variants are danced in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela. It is also popular in Europe and parts of Asia.

Styles of casino[edit]

As a partner dance (Parejas)[edit]

Casino is danced in three points which makes up a circular motion as partners face each other in intricate patterns of arms and body movement. This is distinctive from the North American Salsa styles which is danced in a slot (two points) and linear positions as taught by the North American and European dance studios.

Casino has a number of basic steps. One of them known as guapea ('swagger') or pausa, among other attested names, involves the leader lead performing a more or less pronounced dragging of his left foot backwards from a slightly advanced onset position. This is in stark contrast to the most common basic Salsa step, in which the lead steps forward with his left foot.

Casino styling includes men being 'macho' and women being femininely sexy, with major body and muscle isolations, through the influence of Rumba dancing. During the dance, dancers often break from each other during percussion solos and perform the despelote, an advanced form of styling in which the male and female partner get physically close and tease each other without touching through the gyrating of hips and shoulders while performing muscle isolations.

The major distinction of Casino Styling is that male partners have tendencies to show off (following Afro-Cuban Guaguancó influence), under the cultural guise of males having to attract attention and tease females. This is the major point of differences between Casino and Northern American forms of Salsa, which ascribe to the ballroom adage of 'men are the picture frame while women are the picture.'

As a solo dance (Suelta)[edit]

Suelto, dancing salsa without a partner, originates from stage singers and dancers, who perform dance routines during orchestra and live performances. Dancing alone or in a group (usually with a male facing females on the dance floor), the movements are based on a-tiempo or contra-tiempo, with intricate footwork and lively body movements.

Other forms of partner dancing[edit]

Other partner dancing styles include Trios or Quattros, in which a lead dances with two or more partners in intricate patterns. There is also a Trios version in which two leads share a follow. Additionally, several couples can come together to dance choreographed moves with changes of partners, led by a caller and known as 'rueda de casino'. This last form is popular everywhere there is Cuban music. In the United States, many dance schools only offer rueda de casino and ignore completely the dance of casino. These schools often mistakenly idenfitify the dance as 'casino rueda' or 'salsa rueda', both incorrect terms.

See also[edit]

• Rueda de Casino - a lively group formation of dancing casino

References[edit]

1. ^Orejuela Martínez, Adriana (2006). El son no se fue de Cuba. Claves para una historia 1959-1973. ensayo.

External links[edit]

• Sonycasino - A well-researched blog on Cuban dance and music by Cuba-born Daybert Linares.
• Salsayo - a dictionary of Cuban Salsa moves

Basic Salsa Steps Youtube