The move “Vacilala” can be translated literally as “to tease
her” but it has evolved in a Casino context to mean “show her off” or “check
her out”. It is one of the most fundamental moves in Casino which is the base
for many other moves such as Vacilense, Pimienta, Sombrero etc.
The original meaning “to tease her” stems from the fact that
while the follower turns their back towards the leader there are many
suggestive or funny gestures that leaders can do which are usually somewhat
cheeky by nature. Some of these have developed to become moves in their own
right such as Vacilala con Culo, Vacilala Mentira, etc.
Other gestures that can be done by leaders such as checking
out the follower’s behind in a very obvious manner has led to Vacilala often
being translated as “to check her out” which is another meaning of the Spanish
word vacilar, used particularly in Cuba.
Finally, there are various gestures that can be done during
this move which are aimed at creating envy among other dancers where the leader
proudly presents their follower to the rest of the dance floor. All of the
above mentioned gestures and suggestions are part of Cuban humour and are
usually wildly exaggerated, not to be taken seriously in any way. In
particular, the last point discussed has given rise to the move being associated
with a more colloquial meaning of the word vacilar which is to show off. In
this context the move is translated as “to show her off” as the leader will
present the follower to the others. This is further emphasised by the fact that
Vacilala is one of the few Casino moves where the follower is completely free
for a short period of time, not being connected to the leader in any way which
allows her to show off any styling she knows which makes this move one of the
most beautiful moves to watch for spectators not to mention the fact that the
sheer endless amount of gestures by the leader and styling possibilities for
the followers can vary this move to the point where experienced dancers can
repeat this move multiple times during a dance without any two Vacilalas
looking the same.
Out of the various meanings that are attached to this move,
it is the meaning of “check her out” that has given this move its hand sign
where the caller will point with their index finger to one of their eyes. It is
irrelevant which index finger is used to signal the move and which eye the
index finger is pointing to. This is in contrast to the hand signal for
Exhibela and Sacala which use the same hand sign but are distinguished in terms
of which eye they are pointing to (More on this to follow in later posts).
To see a video of the move Vacilala as well as the hand sign, please click on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06ftZIl5xq8&feature=youtu.be
