Moreover, Tiempo España is the name of a Rueda formation in Cuban Salsa from where many Rueda calls originate that cannot be called from any other position (i.e. Taro Con La Mano) and which has some specific rules associate with it such as the fact that any change of direction can occur on both beats 1 and 5 contrary to most moves in Casino which always start on beat 1. As discussed in previous posts, while the name “Tiempo España” is not grammatically correct from a Spanish linguistic perspective, the name is not to be taken literally. Tiempo España meaning “Time Spain” is not so much a Spanish expression but rather the name of a hold in Cuban Salsa with a historical reference to the time of Spanish colonial control that plagued the island when the close hold was introduced into Cuban dancing.
The close-hold which evolved to Tiempo España originated in Waltz and became the main hold in Danzon and later in Son Cubano. While this hold was the principal hold in Son it became less popular when it was transferred to Cuban Salsa where the semi-open hold (Casino) is the hold seen predominantly on the dance floor. That being said it is in not wrong in any way to give Tiempo España a higher importance or even spend an entire dance in this hold but on larger dance floors with plenty of free space to move it is more unusual to see couples spending a significant amount of time in this hold other than at the start and the end of a song.
In Rueda, Tiempo España has to be called from any position that would normally lead to Dile Que No i.e. while in Casino one may call Enchufla Tiempo España since Enchufla ends in Dile Que No so at that point we can go into Tiempo España instead of performing a Dile Que No. However we cannot go into Tiempo España directly while in Casino position. The easiest way to get into this formation is to call Dame Tiempo España while the easiest way to get out of it is to call a Dile Que No while dancing in the Tiempo España formation. For this reason the hand sign is an open hand showing towards the dancers as if to signal “stop” as when we get into it we effectively stop ourselves from doing a Dile Que No.
