Rueda Hand Signs (Part 18) Setenta Clásico

This move is particularly confusing in terms of how it is being called internationally adding to the general ambiguity in the way Setenta moves are executed. At Tiempo España Dance Academy we follow the below instructions to distinguish between the moves Setenta and Setenta Clásico: Setenta is a Mini Setenta with an Alarde at the end, followed by an Enchufla Ronde whereas Setenta Clásico denotes the start of Mini Setenta but on beats 5, 6 and 7 of the second 8-count the leader does a Vuelta Izquierda underneath their own hand instead of the Alarde. The move is then followed once again by an Enchufla Ronde. These two moves are therefore very similar with just one small change in the middle of the move but nonetheless this change does serve in creating a feeling both in the dancer as well as the spectator that something completely different has been done due to the contrast between a move where only the follower turns (Setenta) and a move where the leader and the follower turn (Setenta Clásico).

Aside from isolated regions/dance schools doing something completely different for the moves described above, the confusion with these moves arise from the following problem: Many Rueda groups perform the move described as Setenta Clásico in this post but actually call it by the name Setenta. These Rueda groups tend to not teach or call the sequence of steps described as Setenta Clásico here. Similarly some Rueda groups will call Setenta and refer to the same move described here without ever calling or executing the move Setenta Clásico. This leads to a general confusion internationally as to what the move Setenta actually means and very few Rueda groups will teach both versions and contrast them with each other. The ones that do teach both versions usually refer to it as Setenta and Setenta Clásico and teach them according to the instructions written in this post (see the Tiempo España Dance Academy video for a more visual breakdown of these moves). The rumour is that the move called Setenta Clásico was the way Setenta was performed originally but has evolved over time into the modern version of Setenta so the conflict arises between dance schools following the original or the more modern model whereas the comprehensive schools teach the traditional version as Setenta Clásico (the classical way of performing Setenta).

The hand sign for Setenta Clásico is the sign for Setenta (see the earlier post in this series) plus the sign for Clásico which consists of the leader making a sweeping up and down motion with the free hand close to their chin as if they were playing violin which stands for classical music in this context.

To see a video of the move Setenta Clásico as well as the hand sign, please click on: https://youtu.be/Z-FelDX9d78

Tresillo (Part 3)

In maths the Greatest Common Divisor (GCD) of two numbers A and B is the largest integer that divides both A and B. The ancient Greek mathematician Euclid who lived ca 300 BC published an algorithm in his world famous work The Elements which is a technique for finding the GCD quickly. It is one of the oldest non-trivial algorithms that are still in use today and is based on the fact that the GCD of two numbers remains the same after the larger number is replaced by its difference with the smaller number. The algorithm is called Euclidean algorithm or Euclid's algorithm even though it is believed that it was actually invented centuries before Euclid put it in his collection of books on mathematical and geometrical treatise.

The formal definition of the algorithm is as follows for two positive integers x and y:

          (1) z = x mod y
          (2) if z = 0 return y 
          (3) if z ≠ 0 set x = y and set y = z then repeat from step 1

You may wonder what this has to do with music and Cuban salsa specifically. The answer lies in a discovery that Godfried Toussaint made in 2014 which he called Euclidean Rhythms. To illustrate this beautiful example of how maths relates to music let us consider an example of where we are trying to find the GCD of 8 and 5 which can be done using Euclid’s algorithm as per the following steps:

          (1) x = 8, y = 5
          (2) z = 8 mod 5 = 3
          (3) z ≠ 0 ∴ x = 5, y = 3
          (4) z = 5 mod 3 = 2
          (5) z ≠ 0 ∴ x = 3, y = 2
          (6) z = 3 mod 2 = 1
          (7) z ≠ 0 ∴ x = 2, y = 1
          (8) z = 2 mod 1 = 0
          (9) z = 0 ∴ GCD = 1

This algorithm shows that the GCD between 8 and 5 is 1 which is a rather simple example of the algorithm in practice and not very interesting mathematically. However, when we consider each step the algorithm takes (numbered 1 to 9 in the example above) we can see some surprising similarities to the problem of trying to distribute 3 onsets as evenly as possible across an 8 pulse structure. More on this to follow in the next post of the Tresillo blog series.

Hi, my name is Melanie and I'm a salsaholic...

My first introduction to dance was at the age of 6/7yrs when my mum decided that I should get involved in my local dance class. I threw myself into it wholeheartedly and progressed rapidly to participating in competitions. All was well until I hit my teens and realised that it was neither hip nor cool to do ballroom dancing and in fact I was missing out on the local youth club which was definitely the place to be at that time.

For the next few decades I didn't even think about it and concentrated on the usual, getting married, having a family etc. There just wasn't the time or the funds to be taking dancing classes but I was fine with that, I loved being a mum and was totally happy with my lot. To cut a very long story short, my marriage ended and I was starting a whole new chapter in my life. 10yrs on I met my now husband and he treated me to a trip to Cuba.....I remember it like it was yesterday, stepping off the coach at our hotel and seeing all the dancers there to welcome us, I was awestruck and so my yearn for dancing reappeared. I remember thinking how their bodies looked as if the were made of rubber and was mesmarised by the routines they performed and so wanted to be able to make my body do the same. I joined in at every opportunity and thoroughly enjoyed it but when my holiday came to an end I felt empty and sad that that's where my experience with Cuban salsa would end.

Back home I searched for any Cuban classes that were around but could only find crossbody/NY style classes which I knew were not what I was looking for. Just 2yrs ago I struck gold and came across some classes not a million miles away from me and get this, they were Cuban salsa classes!!
I dragged my friend along with me as I wasn't brave enough to go it alone. My first lesson was brilliant, in my head I was Beyoncé which I definitely wasn't but hey I didn't care, I was having a blast. We did move after move until it was time to go, I didn't want it to end and before long I was doing 5hrs of salsa and totally loving it! My teacher's obvious addiction to Cuban salsa was infectious, I remember watching them dance together and striving to replicate the body movements and dance style, in short I wanted to be able to dance as well as them which with hindsight was crazy as we all have our own individual style and four or five lessons did not make me an expert...

Now, 2yrs on I have met some amazing people through my love of Cuban salsa and my dancing has obviously improved to the point where I now teach at the very dance school I learnt with....If you had told me then I'd be where I am now, I'd have laughed hysterically but it just goes to show, if you're passionate about something and work hard, the sky's the limit!

Tresillo (Part 2)

Comparing the tresillo against all its necklace rotations (term used in musicology to describe a rotation of the same rhythmic structure onto another beat) it is found that the rhythm is used widely in practice irrespective of the necklace used. In particular Toussaint describes a necklace as robust that can be rotated around its pulse zero to obtain other popular rhythms as it is rare to find a strong popular timeline that is independent of the onset rotation in terms of its usage.

It should be noted here that it is common in musicology to denote the pulse where a rhythm starts as pulse 0, however, instead of viewing it as the initial pulse it can also be viewed as the final pulse as at the point where a rhythmic pattern is repeated the pulse is the start of the next rhythmic pattern and at the same time it is the end of the last rhythmic pattern. I.e. whether we count a 4-pulse structure as 0, 1, 2, 3, 0, 1, 2, 3,… or 4, 1, 2, 3 4, 1, 2, 3, … is irrelevant. To make this theory more accessible for dancers we will count the final pulse instead of the initial pulse in this blog as when we count the steps in salsa classes we will usually count 1, 2 ,3, (4), 5, 6, 7, (8) instead of counting (0), 1, 2, 3, (4), 5, 6, 7.

An onset rotation of a rhythm is defined as a rotation where one of the onsets falls on to pulse 0 (or pulse 8 in the below examples). As the tresillo rhythm has exactly three onsets, there are exactly 3 onset rotations if we count the tresillo rhythm itself. To make this rhythm robust according to Toussaint, all three rotations need to be used in practice which is indeed the case as illustrated below.

If we graphically represent the tresillo pattern as a necklace based on the 3 onsets across 8 pulses represented as coloured pearls we obtain something like the following illustration:

If we rotate the tresillo pattern to the right until we obtain the next onset rotation we obtain the Nandon Bawaa bell pattern of the Dagarti people of Ghana which can also be found in Bulgaria and Namibia.

The last onset rotation is the rhythm known in Korea as Samhyon Toduri which is almost a mix between the tresillo and the nandon bawaa necklace having the onsets on beats 3, 5 and 8. This rhythm is also used in Eastern Angola, Bulgaria and Turkey and is a thirteenth century Indian tala called Mathya-Tisra.

All of the examples quoted so far are popular onset rotations of the tresillo pattern proving that the tresillo necklace is robust. However, other rotations exist as well (albeit less common) which do not have an onset on pulse 8. I.e. Judith Becker describes a bass-drum used in Burmese music which is effectively a rotation of tresillo although it is not an onset rotation: