Rueda Hand Signs (Part 19) Medio Sombrero

It seems almost trivial to call this a move in its own right. For any advanced dancer, this move seems negligibly different from the move Pimienta Con La Mano Derecha and feels very much like an embellishment of this move. I.e. I have heard this being described as a “right-handed Pimienta with an alarde at the end”. That being said, for people who are just getting used to the general feel of Cuban salsa, the distinction between these two moves is fundamental to understanding some of the rudimentary structures that allow us to connect different elementary moves together to form longer combinations i.e. such as the move Suzanna which uses medio sombrero as a basis or the move Dedo which uses Pimienta Con La Mano Derecha as a basis.

Even though it seems like all we are doing is for leaders to move their right hand above the followers head at the end of Pimienta Con La Mano Derecha, it is the precise timing of this action that helps students get used to more complex moves. Additionally, at the end of Medio Sombrero the leader will slide their right hand across the follower’s neck, back to their left hand shoulder which is another common theme that can be observed in many more complicated moves so it is worthwhile practicing this move at an initial stage to get used to this hand motion.

Finally, when executing Pimienta Con La Mano Derecha, the leader will usually finish this move with a Dile Que No Con La Mano Derecha whereas for Medio Sombrero a hand switch occurs such that the leaders end up with a Dile Que No Con La Mano Izquierda at the end of the move.

All of these factors described above seem intuitive for more experienced dancers but they are important concepts to learn at an initial stage so it is helpful that Pimienta Con La Mano Derecha is seen as a different move to Medio Sombrero as it gives students the structure they need to distinguish between these subtle differences.

Furthermore, Medio Sombrero is at the basis of a plethora of different Cuban salsa moves such as the entire Bayamo series so it is essential to get used to how this works and feels.

The hand sign for Medio Sombrero consists of the sign for medio, which is the index finger drawing half a circle down like a minute hand on a clock signalling half, followed by the sign for Sombrero as described in an earlier post of this series.

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