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
