In rueda contrario every second leader changes partner in opposite direction (contrario means opposite). But only when the call “contrario” is added, like for example in “enchufla contrario“.
The leaders/men are divided into two teams:
- primeros (team 1): the caller + every second leader
change partner in the regular direction (abajo), and inside the segundo leader - segundos (team 2): the other leaders
change partner in arriba direction, between the follower and the primero leader
The followers/women don’t have a fixed role, but they have to be prepared for the leader coming from right or left, and sometimes in short notice.
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Transitions
There are not really transitions from rueda de casino to rueda contrario, like in several other rueda structures. But if the caller is planning on calling rueda contrario, the dancers need to be prepared for it. Otherwise they will not know immediately what direction to go for a partner change.
How to prepare for rueda contrario:
- Make sure you have an even number of couples. No ghosts (single leaders or follows).
- Prepare for the first rueda contrario command by calling “primeros un fly” or “segundos un fly” or similar, until all the leaders know which role they have
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Dancing rueda contrario
The concept itself is easy enough to be used in a social rueda, as long as you avoid having one extra couple join during the song. This will kill the contrario option for the rest of the song, unless one more couple enters or exits the circle.
Examples of standard figures that work well adding contrario:
- enchufla contrario
- dame una > dame contrario
- vacílala y dame contrario
- patin contrario
- un tarro contrario
- enchufla < whatever > contrario (f.ex. enchufla con mambo contrario, etc.)
- festival de pelota contrario
- enchufla dos contrario (= enchufla y dame dos contrario)
- enchufla con vuelta contrario
- enchufla contrario y al revés
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Videos
We have currently published 1 video of rueda contrario. 2 more videos are recorded and are being prepared for the rueda.casino video channel.
Log on to vimeo.com to see the videos. Get access if your are not yet subscribing.
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The origin of rueda contrario
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The primeros in the videos are wearing red bands, corresponding to the red tag on the shoulder in the illustrations.
More videos are being prepared for the rueda.casino video channel, showing the basics, and a full song demonstration.
Figures in the videos include:
- enchufla contrario
- enchufla con vuelta contrario
- enchufla dos contrario
- dame una
- dame contrario
- vacílala y dame contrario
- enchufla contrario
- enchufla doble contrario
- festival de pelota contrario
- enchufla con vuelta contrario
- enchufla dos contrario
- Tumba Francesa
- familia contrario
- patin contrario
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Origin
The creator of rueda contrario is Nikola Medic
Rueda contrario was first presented in Munich in 2010 by Nikola Medic’s team Havana en Belgrado. He named the two teams in rueda contrario “dame” (primeros) and “una p’arriba” (segundos). He emphasizes the slice-of-pizza idea during the partner changes: the primeros moving straight to the center and out backwards not facing the girl, to avoid crashes during the partner changes, especially when the music is speedy. More about the origin in the video, above on this page.
An extension to rueda contrario has now been develloped. Bernt Rygg introduced rudea mujeres contrario in 2017, a variant where the ladies actively change partners, in opposite direction.
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