Rueda Hand Signs (Part 8) Sacala

The move Sacala is usually translated as “take her out”, “throw her out” or “pick her up”. While there are various debates on the etymology of this move name, few people deny its relation to baseball. Baseball is the most popular sport in Cuba and many Cuban salsa move names have been derived from one of the baseball terms used such as Fly, Rolling, Jardin etc. The Spanish verb “sacar” translates to “take out”, “throw out” or “serve” in a sports context and can be seen in many baseball expressions such as: sacar una linea – “to hit a line drive”, sacar la bola – “to hit a home run” or sacar al corredor – “to get the runner out”. Anyone of these expressions could have been the originator for the move name “sacala” with the idea being that the follower is being launched towards the centre of the circle similar to a baseball being launched forward following a powerful strike in a line drive or home run hit. This image is consistent with Sacala being one of the Cuban salsa moves that have the strongest lead as the right hands of leader and follower move into such a position that the thumbs interlock like in a thumb clasp handshake. This only happens on the 7th beat of the prior 8-count before performing Sacala, lasting until the first beat of Sacala at which point the grip is released and the fingers move into the more familiar finger to finger position that allows the follower to turn underneath the leader’s hand easily.
This initial grip on the lead is one of the key reasons why Sacala can look and feel so different to Exhibela even though it is essentially the same move performed with the leader’s right hand instead of his left hand. Among the many baseball expressions with sacar that may have created the name of this move, there is one in particular that creates the image of the follower being launched forward: Sacar la pelota del parque – “to take the ball out of the park”. This is often heard chanted in its abbreviated forms ¡Sacala del parque! or even just ¡Sacala!. It is therefore widely believed that this expression has created the name for the move.

Sacala is signalled with the index finger of either hand pointing at the right eye. The signal has no relation to the meaning of Sacala itself but is instead a reference to Exhibela which is the same move but performed with the leader’s left hand. By pointing at the left eye for Exhibela and the right eye for Sacala the caller therefore shows the leaders which hands they have to use in case they forget the specific hand holds for Exhibela and Sacala. This demonstrates one of the many advantages in using hand signals over just shouting the moves as even if the dancers forget certain aspects of the move, they may be able to figure it out from some of the hints provided by the hand signals.

To see a video of the move Sacala as well as the hand sign, please click on https://youtu.be/EDPdeM33Pa8

Enchufla in Rueda (Part 2)

As discussed in part 1 of this series, there are two main groups internationally with respect to Enchufla being executed in Rueda. Tiempo España Dance Academy follows the system whereby Enchufla implies a Dame which among the points discussed in part 1 has the added advantage that Rueda calls become shorter when moving on which is easier for all dancers to process. In addition, there are a lot of Rueda moves that are based on Enchufla whereby the leaders move on such as Pelota, Tumba Francesa, Doble Play etc. so it makes sense to move on by default when calling Enchufla to be consistent with the vast majority of Rueda moves that follow this structure as opposed to explicitly calling Dame each time.

There are a lot of debates around which variations of Enchufla result in the leaders moving on. I.e. some Rueda groups move on automatically after Enchufla but not after Enchufla Doble, some Rueda groups move on after every Enchufla variation and some even move on after every Enchufla based move irrespective of whether the name of the move contains the word Enchufla. This is one of the most common sources of confusion even for very experienced dancers when joining a new Rueda.
At Tiempo España Dance Academy we always move on when the name of the move contains the word Enchufla unless it is not possible to move on during the 5,6,7 of the final 8-count or the word Quédate is added to the move. I.e. we move on after Enchufla, Enchufla Doble, Enchufla Moderno etc. but we do not move on after Enchufla Ronde or Enchufla Mentira for instance as the leaders are still in the process of executing the Ronde or Mentira part of the move on 5,6,7, so they are not able to move on to the next person on those counts. Similarly we do not move on for Rueda calls such as Enchufla Moderno Quédate for instance as the addition of Quédate explicitly tell dancers to stay with the same partner at the end of Enchufla Moderno.

Finally, when using Enchufla to move on there is some debate around how many partners we should be moving on. The vast majority of Rueda groups which move on automatically when calling Enchufla, including Tiempo España Dance Academy, move on by only one person at a time. That is, Enchufla implies Dame but not any of the variations such as Dame Dos, Dame Tres, Dame Por Arriba etc. so these variations still have to be explicitly called, i.e. Enchufla Dame Dos, Enchufla Por Arriba etc.
Some schools teach Enchufla with an implied Dame in a Rueda but for certain Rueda moves they insist that the type of Dame implied changes. I.e. I have been to Rueda groups where for instance Enchufla Y Rumba or Pelota means that students should move on to the next partner whereas Enchufla Y Reggaeton and Doble Play means that leaders will skip one partner when moving on i.e. they teach these moves as if they implied a Dame Dos. This type of inconsistency is highly confusing even to students who have come to the same Rueda group for years and involves learning by heart what is implied or not implied for each individual Enchufla based move. At Tiempo España Dance Academy we stay away from all such inconsistencies and only imply a Dame when calling Enchufla variations in Rueda or Enchufla based Rueda moves. That is, for instance, by default Doble Play means that leaders will move on to the next person whereas if we wanted them to skip a partner we would have to explicitly call Doble Play Dame Dos.

Enchufla in Rueda (Part 1)

Enchufla is one of the most basic moves in Cuban salsa which is called in almost every Rueda. Even though the move itself is relatively simple when dancing with only one partner, it is one of the most widely debated moves as few groups agree on how it is to be executed in Rueda. Generally speaking, there are internationally two distinct Rueda groups with respect to Enchufla. Group 1 insists that the move Enchufla implies a Dame whereas group 2 executes Rueda in the same way they would if they were dancing with the same partner, that is, they stay with their partner rather than moving on to the next person in the Rueda at the end of the move.

When the first group calls Enchufla, then on the 5th, 6th and 7th beat of the move the leaders will move on to the next partner in the Rueda. When this group wants leaders to stay with their current partners, they will call Enchufla Quédate, with Quédate meaning “Stay!”. Group 2, on the other hand, will stay with their current partner by default whenever the move Enchufla is called and they will only move on to the next person if the caller shouts Enchufla Y Dame. Therefore, while group 1 moves on by default and has to explicitly state when leaders are supposed to stay with their partners, group 2 stays with their partners by default and only moves on when this is being communicated in addition to the move.

Both groups seem to generally agree on some moves always being executed in the same way. I.e. Enchufla Y Rumba, Enchufla Y Mambo, Enchufla Y Son etc. seem to be performed in more or less the same way around the world where the leaders will move on while executing the moves. None of the Ruedas I have ever seen called something like Enchufla Y Dame Y Rumba, rather, it seems to be internationally accepted that Enchufla Y Rumba involves the leaders moving on to the next partner, irrespective of whether the Rueda group is generally part of group 1 or group 2. There are a lot of moves which follow the same structure in addition to the ones mentioned above, i.e. Enchufla Y Reggaeton, Enchufla Y Cha Cha Cha, Enchufla Dracula, Enchufla Canguro, Enchufla Y Trombones etc. which imply a Dame for both group 1 and group 2. This seems rather inconsistent for dancers belonging to group 1 and is very hard for new members to grasp as they will expect to hear Enchufla Y Dame Y Reggaeton, Enchufla Y Dame Y Cha Cha Cha, etc. if they have been taught to only move on when they hear Enchufla Y Dame. It is this inconsistency in group 1 that has resulted in Tiempo España Dance Academy following the group 2 system where Enchufla automatically implies a Dame in a Rueda without this being explicitly called. While this may be a little harder to grasp for students initially, it is a more logical system where students do not have to suddenly bend the rules when they learn moves such as Enchufla Y Rumba.