Rueda figures
CLOSED POSITION
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americano, americana
= american (male, female)
The figure should ideally be danced with a bit of a cubanized hip hop style, like a Cuban showing a parody of an american hip hop dancer.
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OPEN POSITION – guapea
cero con giro
= zero with a turn
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dame rapido
= give me quickly
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dame p´atras
= give me behind
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enchufla con Manolin
= ‘enchufla’ with Manolin (Cuban artist)
Manolin is a Cuban salsa/timba artist, who is quite famous for his characteristic movements on stage. In Cuba everyone knows Manolin, also called el medico de la salsa (the doctor of salsa).
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enchufla con palma y pata’
= ‘enchufla’ with clap and kick
Creator: Yohan Corrioso
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enchufla y escondete
= ‘enchufla’ and hide yourself
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enchufla y quedate con mambo
= ‘enchufla y quedate’ with mambo
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engañala
= fool her
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festival de fly / los tres
= festival of “fly” / the three
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principe bueno, principe malo
= good prince, bad prince
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saluda
= greet
Saluda is a very simple figure, and it emphasizes an important perspective in rueda de casino: the contact not only with your partner and the caller, but also with your neighbour (la vecina / el vecino).
This caommand is also useful in Rueda structures like Rueda llanta, to recognize you new neighbour after the different partner changes.
Check out the modern version of saluda: saluda a lo moderno.
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triple play
= tripple play (baseball term)
Triple play is similar to doble play, but it is less known and less used. They are both related to baseball, Cuba’s national sport. Triple play is a fun figure to use in a social rueda, to add something familiar, not known to everyone, and yet doable. The figure is similar enough to doble play that you can learn it while dancing. If doble play is called first, it is rather intuitive how triple play is executed. If the call is repeated once or twice, pretty much everyone got it.
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OPEN POSITION – side by side
dame por la mano
= ‘dame’ by the hand
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saca la vecina
= pick up the neighbour lady
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RUEDA AL MEDIO
flor
= flower
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Figure variations
CLOSED POSITION
dos tarros
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OPEN POSITION
cero y dame
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familia para arriba
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familia > siguelo > se fue
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patin para arriba
This figures is like a regular ‘patin’, but the men/leads change partner in arriba direction. It can be a bit surprising that it feels like so differently to change partner the opposite direction in this figure. Pay attention to the steps for the men. The name is usually pronounced in a short form: patin p’arriba.
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patin > siguelo > se fue
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patineta y dame
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patineta > siguelo > se fue
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saca la vecina y dame
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vacilala y dame
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Figure combinations
OPEN POSITION
dame directo y dame dos
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dame directo y Echeverria
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dos con dos y una p’arriba
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enchufla con Manolin > ni pa´ti ni pa´mi
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enchufla y arriba y dos p’abajo
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enchufla y sacala
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patineta y patin
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prima > con la hermana > la familia
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sombrero > paseala por arriba
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RUEDA AL MEDIO
cubanito > media derecha, completa
= half right, complete (right)
In the figure cubanito, everyone is facing the centre. In his position, directions are often referred to as derecha (right) and izquierda (left), instead of arriba (upward/forward) and abajo (downward/backward).
From this position (al medio / to the center) you can change one partner by calling ‘derecha‘. You may also change only half a partner to the right, ‘media derecha‘. In ‘media derecha’, you end up in between this follower and the next one, holding both their hands. Another ‘media derecha’ will take you in front of the partner you held in your right hand.
‘completa‘ (complete or full) has the same meaning as ‘derecha’, and it is used to avoid confusion if you start calling ‘media derecha’.
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RUEDA CAMINANDO
camina > ni pa´ti ni pa´mi
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