Class on Sunday 18th January 2009
Thank you very much to everyone who came to the class at Keir Hardie on Sunday 18th January 2009 on a very busy weekend for salsa dancing. Your energy, enthusiasm and support is very much appreciated. Warm thanks to everyone who came along again and a warm welcome to those who came along for the first time. We hope you all enjoyed the evening.
The rueda syllabus and the rueda class levels are designed to develop skills in casino (Cuban salsa) style dancing and rueda moves, rueda etiquette and rueda technique. Apart from those new to salsa, who are taught separately the basics of salsa dancing to prepare for rueda, the class levels of rueda level 1, rueda level 2 and rueda level 3 refer to levels of rueda rather than levels of salsa dancing. It is no reflection on your level of salsa dancing to be in the rueda level 1 class - no matter how expert a salsa dancer you are, if you are new to rueda or still have to cover the moves that you are expected to know at rueda level 2, then the rueda level 1 class is where you will learn the most, it is the class which will be the most beneficial to you and where you will learn what will help you to progress faster in the long run. Similarly, the rueda level 2 class will build upon the rueda level 1 class to further develop the skills and knowledge that will be necessary and of great benefit at higher levels.
When dancing rueda, when something goes wrong, as it inevitably does, and a leader ends a move without a follower, the leader should look around the rueda, and if there is a follower available, the leader should cross the rueda to the follower. Hopefully the caller will have noticed the problem and will be allowing this to be resolved before resuming calling moves! The leader should cross the rueda in step and in time - keep dancing salsa. With a bit of luck, it might even look like this was meant to happen! ;)
In general, when something goes wrong in the rueda, relax, smile, stay calm, keep dancing and deal with the situation in a gentle and positive manner - don't charge around in a panic! If you have to take some good-natured laughter from the rest of the rueda - well, that's just the way it is! :)
The moves covered this week, in the various classes throughout the evening, were:
FROM THE RUEDA LEVEL 1 SYLLABUS
adentro y afuera (to the inside and to the outside)
arriba (up)
abajo (down)
un tarro (an affair)
dile que no (tell her no)
guapea (show off)
dame (una) (give me (one))
enchufe (plug/connect)
pimienta (pepper)
(la) cuchara (spoon)
exhíbela (show her off)
sácala (take her out)
vacílala (check her out)
caramelo (sweet)
chocolate (chocolate)
caramelo y chocolate (sweet and chocolate)
adiós (a la prima) (goodbye (cousin))
FROM THE RUEDA LEVEL 2 SYLLABUS
la cubanita (Cuban girl)
dame/enchufe/adiós etc con gracia (graceful dame/enchufe/adiós etc)
dame dos (give me two)
dame pa'afuera (give me one on the outside)
enchufe doble (double plug/connect)
enchufe con vuelta (plug/connect with turn)
pelota (ball)
enchufe al medio (plug/connect, to the centre)
cero (from al medio)(zero)
cero con gracia (graceful zero)
lombriz (worm) / se quedó (stay)
setenta simple (simple seventy)
vacílala dame una (check her out, give me one)
FROM THE RUEDA LEVEL 3 SYLLABUS
setenta (seventy)
sombrero con mambo (hat with Cuban mambo step)
sombrero con mambo complicado (hat with complicated Cuban mambo step)
treinta y tres (thirty three)
el dedo (the finger)
cadeneta (little chain) / se quedó (stay)
dame me gusta (give me I like her)
pasan las manos (pass the hands) / tranca (bar) / chicos también (guys also) / pa' lante (go forward)
When you see us out on the dance floor starting a rueda, you are welcome to join in, we'll try to call moves that you know, and don't forget, you can join in even if you don't have a partner to start with.
Even if you are not dancing in a rueda, you can practice many of the moves in your free dancing.
Any feedback, comments or suggestions are always welcome.
See you soon for more rueda fun!
The rueda syllabus and the rueda class levels are designed to develop skills in casino (Cuban salsa) style dancing and rueda moves, rueda etiquette and rueda technique. Apart from those new to salsa, who are taught separately the basics of salsa dancing to prepare for rueda, the class levels of rueda level 1, rueda level 2 and rueda level 3 refer to levels of rueda rather than levels of salsa dancing. It is no reflection on your level of salsa dancing to be in the rueda level 1 class - no matter how expert a salsa dancer you are, if you are new to rueda or still have to cover the moves that you are expected to know at rueda level 2, then the rueda level 1 class is where you will learn the most, it is the class which will be the most beneficial to you and where you will learn what will help you to progress faster in the long run. Similarly, the rueda level 2 class will build upon the rueda level 1 class to further develop the skills and knowledge that will be necessary and of great benefit at higher levels.
When dancing rueda, when something goes wrong, as it inevitably does, and a leader ends a move without a follower, the leader should look around the rueda, and if there is a follower available, the leader should cross the rueda to the follower. Hopefully the caller will have noticed the problem and will be allowing this to be resolved before resuming calling moves! The leader should cross the rueda in step and in time - keep dancing salsa. With a bit of luck, it might even look like this was meant to happen! ;)
In general, when something goes wrong in the rueda, relax, smile, stay calm, keep dancing and deal with the situation in a gentle and positive manner - don't charge around in a panic! If you have to take some good-natured laughter from the rest of the rueda - well, that's just the way it is! :)
The moves covered this week, in the various classes throughout the evening, were:
FROM THE RUEDA LEVEL 1 SYLLABUS
adentro y afuera (to the inside and to the outside)
arriba (up)
abajo (down)
un tarro (an affair)
dile que no (tell her no)
guapea (show off)
dame (una) (give me (one))
enchufe (plug/connect)
pimienta (pepper)
(la) cuchara (spoon)
exhíbela (show her off)
sácala (take her out)
vacílala (check her out)
caramelo (sweet)
chocolate (chocolate)
caramelo y chocolate (sweet and chocolate)
adiós (a la prima) (goodbye (cousin))
FROM THE RUEDA LEVEL 2 SYLLABUS
la cubanita (Cuban girl)
dame/enchufe/adiós etc con gracia (graceful dame/enchufe/adiós etc)
dame dos (give me two)
dame pa'afuera (give me one on the outside)
enchufe doble (double plug/connect)
enchufe con vuelta (plug/connect with turn)
pelota (ball)
enchufe al medio (plug/connect, to the centre)
cero (from al medio)(zero)
cero con gracia (graceful zero)
lombriz (worm) / se quedó (stay)
setenta simple (simple seventy)
vacílala dame una (check her out, give me one)
FROM THE RUEDA LEVEL 3 SYLLABUS
setenta (seventy)
sombrero con mambo (hat with Cuban mambo step)
sombrero con mambo complicado (hat with complicated Cuban mambo step)
treinta y tres (thirty three)
el dedo (the finger)
cadeneta (little chain) / se quedó (stay)
dame me gusta (give me I like her)
pasan las manos (pass the hands) / tranca (bar) / chicos también (guys also) / pa' lante (go forward)
When you see us out on the dance floor starting a rueda, you are welcome to join in, we'll try to call moves that you know, and don't forget, you can join in even if you don't have a partner to start with.
Even if you are not dancing in a rueda, you can practice many of the moves in your free dancing.
Any feedback, comments or suggestions are always welcome.
See you soon for more rueda fun!