Rueda Hand Signs (Part 9) Mini Setenta

Setenta moves are among the most common moves seen at a Cuban salsa event. While they are strictly speaking not elementary moves in the sense that they essentially consist of a combination of other moves, they are so common that many teachers treat them as one of the core moves students need to master before they are allowed in higher level classes.

The popularity of these type of moves is partly due to their distinct look and feel that makes them quite different and therefore interesting to other types of moves. In addition, the fact that many Setenta based moves are made up of a series of vacilalas and Enchuflas which balance each other out in terms of direction is also a reason leaders and followers alike appreciate Setenta-based moves as the moves can look complicated while being relatively easy to execute for leaders and the fact that there is a balance in terms of direction makes followers less dizzy when being turned multiple times. Leaders will often use a Setenta variation as a means to think about the next move they want to do as the fact that the moves are relatively long gives them enough time to think about the next moves they wish to execute.

It is therefore no surprise that there are hundreds of Setenta variations out there, arguably more than for any other type of move, not to mention the many moves that start like Setenta but whose name does not classify them as a Setenta variation such as “Arco Iris”.

Generally speaking, all Setenta variations will start in a very similar way and most dance schools will teach their students to finish Setenta variations in the same way. Even standard Setenta move can vary significantly from one Rueda to another but one of the key elements that makes any Setenta move recognisable around the world is the fact that the first 2 8-counts tend to be executed in a very similar manner for most Setenta based moves. Usually they are executed initially by the leader leading a Vacilala but taking hold of both hands and keeping the left hand high and the right hand low. At the end of the Vacilala, an Enchufla is usually added on where the leader keeps both hands again but once again the left hand is raised while the right hand stays low.

This Vacilala + Enchufla combination is a move in its own right and while rarely called in more advanced Ruedas it is the key element that makes a move recognisable as a Setenta based move. A common name for this move is “Mini Setenta” as it is essentially a short version of the move Setenta. Mini Setenta is signalled by the thumb and the index finger of the free hand pointing into the middle of the Rueda forming a small gap between the two fingers to signal the word “Mini” followed by the sign for Setenta (more on this to follow in a later post).

To see a video of the move Mini Setenta as well as the hand sign, please click on https://youtu.be/q9eZSD8a1_0

Salsa Leeches (Part 5)

To conclude this mini-series I want to mention that I have nothing against Kizomba or any of the dance types that have entered the salsa market. On the contrary, I respect all dances immensely and I am sure that anyone who is passionate about Kizomba the way I am about salsa can get the same happiness and satisfaction I feel when dancing to my favourite songs. I will happily try out any form of dancing and might even become passionate about Kizomba dancing one day. However, the only way this will happen, at least for me personally, is if I no longer get asked to pay for salsa but then get sold Kizomba. Only if Kizomba events are separated from the salsa scene or at the very least mixed parties are advertised as what they are, while there are still plenty of genuine salsa events that allow me to dance salsa, will I be able to respect Kizomba and consider taking up dance lessons such as I would for any other form of dance. In its current state, however, I cannot help but see it as the dance that ruins a lot of my salsa nights when it is played excessively at an event that was advertised as “salsa” or “Latin event”.

It is certainly a genius stroke of marketing to get Kizomba into its current state of popularity via salsa and given the record of dance types being pushed onto the salsa market I am sure it will not be the last. While there are certainly some arguments for catering to various dancers at the same night, what I will never understand is the overall acceptance of advertising one thing and selling something else. In any other business that kind of behaviour would not be tolerated while in the salsa community it seems to somehow be ok to get away with that. I have nothing against people advertising Kizomba/Salsa nights and then playing Kizomba and salsa but bundling completely unrelated dance types under the salsa umbrella and then charging customers for “salsa” is simply fraud as far as I am concerned.

As disgruntled as I am I cannot point the finger as unlike so many of my friends I have not started boycotting any of these places. Even though I know I will get cheated out of my money I continue to go to these supposed “salsa” events without a better alternative as even though I know what to expect I still prefer to dance only 5 dances in 3 hours then not to dance at all, so much is my love for salsa. I just hope that the day will come where my dance school is big enough to start organising their own events at which point I will do something so outrageous it will shock the dance community to their bone:

I will organise salsa events that are actually about salsa…

Tres (Part 1)

A tres is a string instrument similar in shape to a guitar which is believed to have originated in Cuba although some theories suggest that it already existed in precolonial Spain. One of the theories holds that the tres originally related to the 10 string Spanish guitar bandola but evolved into a 6 string guitar due to strings breaking on the long way to Cuba and the difficulty in sourcing new strings.
There are various types of tres in usage today, the most common of which include the six string Cuban Tres (El Tres Cubano) and the nine string Puerto Rican Tres (El Tres Puertorriqueño).

The name tres meaning “three” in Spanish comes from the fact that the 6 strings of the instrument are grouped in three courses of two strings each. These are traditionally tuned as follows G4 G3, C4 C4, E3 E4 although other variations are possible and more common in modern times. The instrument itself is usually made from mahogany wood on the sides of the resonator and cedarwood for the soundboard. The tres was first mentioned in reference to the carnival of Santiago de Cuba in 1892 and has gained increasing popularity in Cuba to the point where it is sometimes described as the national instrument of Cuba.

The tres cubano is one of the core instruments that have influenced Cuban music, originally being used in Son, Nengón, Kiribá and Changüí and leaving its mark on subsequently developed musical genres such as salsa. Someone playing the Cuban tres is usually called the tresero (as opposed to someone playing the Puerto Rican tres who is usually called the tresista) and is one of the key musicians in the traditional son conjunto – an ensemble that is at the core of Son and Cuban salsa. The tresero can be seated or standing and the tres can be held horizontally or with the pegbox end raised slightly upwards. Some of the most famous treseros include Arsenio Rodríguez, the creator of mambo, and Isaac Oviedo, the founder of the Septeto Metancero.

The biggest difference in playing a tres compared to a guitar is that the tres cubano is traditionally played like a drum. While it is possible to play chords with a tres, traditionally this is hardly ever done and even though there are 6 strings, the instrument is usually played as if it were a three string instrument. Fingers can be used to play the tres but it is more common to see it being played with a pick or a plectrum. More on this to follow in part 2 of the series.

 Image by Derek Blackadder is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Mambo (Part 1)

Utter the word mambo in a community of dancers and more often than not, you will find individuals define this word in a myriad of different ways. To some it is synonymous with New York style salsa; to others, it is associated with a particular style of music, and to a further group it will be something they will define as distinctly Cuban.

There is a lot of debate surrounding what should define “Mambo” as a dance, and the aim of this article is not to provide a “correct” version but rather to provide some background information as to the various dance styles that have become associated with this word.

Origin of the word mambo

The word mambo is thought to be a Bantu word (part of the Niger-Congo linguistic family) and is thought to mean a host of things involved in communication. Certain definitions within a Bantu dictionary can define it as meaning a song, a story or action which would be consistent with a culture where the primary form of communication was through song.

There are various theories about how and when this word started to be used commercially, both to describe a dance form and musical style. Some argue that Dámaso Pérez Prado popularised the word and the musical style behind it and attributed the meaning “conversation with the gods" in the Kongo language, spoken by Congolese.

In one article, Arsenio Rodriguez was quoted as saying “The word mambo is of the Congo dialect. When one singer says to the other- “abre cuto guiri mambo” meaning “open your ears and listen to what I am going to tell you”.

However, it is likely that this word was being used centuries before there was any association with what we now label as modern mambo music.

Musical style

Prior to its commercialization, mambo is thought to have developed in the late 1930s and early 1940s and involved new ways of playing and dancing to Cuban genres of music such as danzón and son. This new music form incorporated the use of short and syncopated rhythmic patterns at specific parts of an arrangement-typically during the finale. One of the most influential charangas of the late 1930s at the time was Antonio Arcano’s group Arcono y Sus Maravillas. Most historians agree that Arcano's cellist, Orestes López, was the one who first composed a song that could be classified into the music genre of mambo. However, the first mambo that was actually recorded was called "Rarezas" by bassist and composer Cachao López. It was not until the mid 1940s that records which incorporated this style started to openly be labelled as mambo (Notably, Arsenio Rodriguez also incorporated similar rhythmical structures in to his son music but called this section “Diablo”).

The origins of the dance in Cuba

Similarly, the term mambo was not attributed to a particular dance style during the early 1940s. Rather, it, identified a new trend in dance choreography. The mambo that became popular in Cuba during this period was more of a freestyle dance with no organised sequence of steps and with fast, complicated foot-work. Dancers in Cuba would invent steps based on how the music made them “feel” and their movements were the embodiment of the new sound and rhythmicity that the mambo section provided.  

As can be seen, there does not seem to be one simple way of summarising what mambo is, but subsequent articles will explore this topic and more, including mambo in the United States during the mid 90’s.