Rueda Hand Signs (Part 22) Echevarria

Echevarria is believed to have been invented by someone whose surname was Echevarria, but the exact origin or inventor of the move is unknown. Even though Echevarria is a common surname in Spanish speaking countries the name itself is not derived from Spanish words but is rather a traditional Basque surname derived from Etxeberria, which is itself a derivative from Basque etxe "house" and berri "new". It has many variations both in the salsa context as well as a surname. Some common names and spelling variations that can be observed are “Echeverria”, “Echabarria”, “En Chavarria”, “Chavarria”, “Chaparia”, “Cheveria”, “Chaveria” etc.

Since the name is derived from a surname it has no translation other than the original Basque meaning and as such is usually simply left as Echevarria when referring to it in non-Spanish texts. I have occasionally heard the word “Chaparia” being translated as “plating” from the Spanish verb “chapar” – “to plate”, however this is a fallacy arising as a mere coincidence from the fact that one of the Echevarria surname derivatives sounds similar to another Spanish word.

Completely unrelated to these names is the description “Tres-Dos” which is used in some Rueda groups instead of one of the Echevarria derivatives. Tres-Dos meaning “three-two” is the name of a medium sized conga in Rumba which receives its name from the fact that traditionally the drum was beaten in a combination of three and two beats. As far as I am aware there is no deeper meaning to why this name has been borrowed as an alternative for Echevarria and is simply one of the many move names that have been named after a musical instrument in Cuban culture.

Echevarria is technically speaking not a move but rather a form of styling as it is not led and can be actioned both by the follower and/or the leader independently of each other as an enhancement to Paso Casino or Guapea. Even though it bears similarities on the surface to elements from the twist dance it is fundamentally different in that whenever one foot is being twisted the other foot is supposed to leave the ground rather than twisting on the ground at the same time. This is one of the most common mistakes with this move and is often explained wrong by comparing it to the twist dance.

The hand signal of Echevarria consists of the free hand forming a fist with the thumb and little finger pointing away from each other. The signal is completed by shaking the fist in the air which loosely resembles the motion of Echevarria.

To see a video of the move Echevarria as well as the hand sign, please click on: https://youtu.be/gIyU3KGYgws

Rumba (Part 3)

As discussed in this series so far the dance types people understand under the term
Rumba are predominantly modern dance inventions which are hardly related to the
original dance types that have been danced in Cuba for over a century and coined the
term Rumba. I cannot help but feel a sense of regret when time and time again I meet
people who are either completely unaware that Rumba has anything to do with Cuba
or almost worse, describe the original forms as “Cuban Rumba” and the version they
know as “Real Rumba” as if to say that the Cubans modified the international accepted dance form into some obscure version of their own when it is exactly the
opposite thing that has happened.

Instead of the term Rumba being internationally accepted as a classification for
dances developed in Cuba such as Guaguancó, it unfortunately means different dances
to different people and for the few people who actually do want to describe the Cuban
dance forms outside of Cuba there is very little they can do to make themselves
understood than using some qualifier such as “Cuban Rumba”, “Authentic Rumba”,
“Afrocuban Rumba”, “Original Rumba” “Folkloric Rumba” etc. rather than the new
dance forms being described as “French Rumba”, “English Rumba” etc.
This is absurd when we consider the fact that Cuba developed a number of dance
forms under this name decades before any other dance form was described by this
title. Imagine you study a dance form under the title Rumba for many years and all of
a sudden someone makes up a new completely unrelated dance borrowing this title
and telling you that the dance you specialised in which was called Rumba yesterday is
now called “Cuban Rumba”. It seems ridiculous but this is exactly what happened and
while some people may view this as a pointless discussion on semantics it is in fact a
mechanism by which Cuba which has influenced popular dance forms and music
around the world more than any other country is denied any of the credit it deserves.

Since there is so much confusion around this term, even among my own students, I
feel compelled to analyse some of the international dances that are referred to as
“Rumba” and how they relate to Cuba before describing the Rumba complex of
Afrocuban dances such as Yambú, Guaguancó and Columbia which is what this blog
series is really supposed to be about. What I will not do however, is dilute these
original dances with qualifiers such as “Cuban”, “Authentic” etc. but rather denote
any modern version of Rumba with a qualifier such as “Ballroom Rumba”, “Square
Rumba”, “Catalan Rumba” etc. to distinguish it from dances such as Yambú,
Guaguancó and Columbia. In this series as well as any future articles in this blog
when I use the word Rumba without any qualifier I will refer to the Rumba complex
developed in Cuba and nothing else which is maybe confusing to some Western
readers but in line with the historical development of the various dance forms and
certainly the way Cubans themselves would look at the collection of dances described
by this term. I.e. no one in Cuba would have the idea to refer to a dance such as
Columbia by the title “Cuban Rumba” which in Cuba is just called Rumba and I will
adapt the same terminology in any of the blog posts I write on the subject.

Trios de Casino (Part 3)

Learning trios de casino is one of the hardest but also one of the most aesthetic aspects of Cuban salsa. It is an element that is unique to Casino as a dance and something that is unparalleled in terms of the rules that guide dancers through the complexities in this style.

In “un hombre con dos mujeres” the leader will have to give two separate signals at the same time leading both followers simultaneously. In “una mujer con dos hombres” the leader to the left hand side will do all the parts that the left hand usually does including most of the signals while the leader to the right hand side will perform all the tasks that the right hand is responsible for. While the style “un hombre con dos mujeres” can be led by signals alone, it is not possible to rely on non-verbal communication for more technical moves in the style “una mujer con dos hombres” as the leader mimicking the right hand will not know what the left hand intends to do until it is too late. For this reason the style is led by signals as well as calls similar to the way a Rueda would be called. The rule is that it is always the left hand who calls the move although there is a very interesting move called “Cambia” that can be initiated by the leader to the right which will lead to the right leader and the left leader switching places at which point it will be the other leader calling moves.

Other elements that can be introduced into trio de casino is the move “Confusion” where similar to the version en parejas the follower decides to lead making the leader the follower. In “un hombre con dos mujeres” it is the follower to the left that can execute this move, making the leader the follower to the right and shifting the follower to the right onto the left hand side. For “una mujer con dos hombres” the follower will become the left hand leader, the left hand leader becomes the right hand leader and the previous right hand leader becomes the new follower.
It is even possible to switch between “un hombre con dos mujeres” and “una mujer con dos hombres” although this requires a lot of practice as it is very difficult to pull off smoothly.

One of the nicest but also very difficult ways of dancing in groups of three people is by performing a trio de casino Rueda which traditionally involves everyone from the start being in un hombre con dos mujeres” position or alternatively has the whole
Rueda dance as “una mujer con dos hombres”. One of the newest developments in this field which is attributed to Thomas Kupczok is the style trio caliente which involves a Rueda consisting of alternating trios of two leaders and one follower and two followers one leader.

Reflection on 2017

On Wednesday 13th December we will run our last Cuban salsa group class in 2017 after which we will stop for a short winter break. Our first group class in 2018 will be in Leeds on Wednesday 3rd of January and our first salsa social in the new year will be on Thursday 15th February from 7:30pm to 9:30pm at our usual party venue “Studio 24”. We will continue writing this blog on a weekly basis but may not respond to messages and enquiries as frequently towards the end of December.

This year has certainly had its challenges and we unfortunately had to close down some of our smaller venues. We are nonetheless immensely proud of what we have achieved this year and are very lucky to have had the help of some amazing friends in keeping this dance school alive. Not all of the projects we envisaged for 2017 came to fruition but it has been a beautiful experience to see some of our dreams come to life this year, growing our school into a hub for Cuban salsa that can rival with some of the biggest Cuban salsa schools in the UK.

We have expanded our social media network this year creating weekly blog posts and monthly videos having had 187 members on Facebook and 240 members on meetup join us in 2017 so far. Our biggest milestones however, are the addition of 9 teachers who joined us this year helping us with Cuban salsa classes across all our locations and providing a base for further expansions in the coming years. Their training and development has been one of our key focus areas over the past year and we are proud to see how well everything has come together to the point where we have several teachers attempting level 3 teaching at this stage.

Other achievements this year include the spin-off of our philanthropic activities into a separate community interest company called Tiempo España Dance Academy C.I.C. who launched its first successful project “Strictly Cuban Salsa” in Monk Fryston a few months ago. Moreover, we went from a dance school centred exclusively around teaching Cuban salsa to organising and managing events by providing entertainment and performances at various weddings and anniversaries last year as well as organising regular Cuban salsa parties in York and Leeds.

But most and foremost we are proud of our students who have come a long way this year to the point where some of our more advanced lessons are challenging even for the most talented and experienced Cuban salsa dancers joining our classes. It is a pleasure to see how many of our students now share our enthusiasm not just about the dance itself but aspects such as the history, culture, musicality etc. The trip we organised to Edinburgh to see Maykel Blanco and the subsequent dance collaboration with Salsa4Water in Glasgow was testament to how far we have come this year and we certainly plan on creating similar opportunities in the following years.

Rumba (Part 2)

From 1956 to 1958 and from 1961 to 1963 a quarrel emerged predominantly between Great Britain and France who were leading at least the European dance scene on a relatively new popular dance dubbed Rumba. There were two main styles that had emerged: A faster style often referred to as “Cuban Rumba” which was based to some degree on Mambo Bolero and a square style version of the dance often called Square- or Carrée-Rumba. Both of these variations have interesting histories and the quarrel around which one should be used internationally in an attempt to standardise the movements became so heated that these periods are often referred to as the “Rumba Wars”.

 
Eventually, an international committee decided that both variants would be accepted, however, the slower version eventually became less common and the faster version was adopted by many dancers as it was more difficult and was seen as less restrictive. Particularly, Nina Hunt and Dimitri Petrides influenced the dance scene strongly in favour of the newer and faster version as they felt that the square version limited their creative choreography.

Today, the version that most people think about when they hear the word Rumba is an evolution of this faster Rumba version which has been added to world-wide ballroom competitions under the name “International Rumba”. It is one of the five competitive international Latin dances and is one of the most clearly defined western social dances. The square rumba version has become much less common internationally but is still often seen in America.

Many other dance types around the world are referred to as Rumba making this concept even more confusing for dancers, musicians and spectators alike but almost all variations have two main aspects in common to the detriment of Cuban history and culture:

• Almost all rumba versions around the world are at its core derived from Cuban dances as well as musical and cultural aspects even though many of them have been changed to the point where this is no longer recognisable. 
• As far as I am aware, none of the dances that are internationally referred to as “Rumba” (aside from the rare occurrence of the actual original Cuban Rumba dances being taught internationally) are derived in any way from any of the original dances in the Cuban Rumba complex. The original Rumba dances were invented and danced in Cuba decades before any of the dances emerged internationally that were described by this term making this title even more tragic in its ability to overwrite one of Cuba’s core inventions with products that have next to nothing to do with it.

Rueda Hand Signs (Part 21) Rompe El Brazo

The move Rompe El Brazo litterally translates to “break the arm”. It is sometimes seen under the name “Rompe Brazo” or “Rómpele El Brazo” although the accent on the “o” which is the correct Spanish spelling in the latter form is sometimes missed out. Particularly in the form “Rómpele El Brazo” meaning “break his arm” it is clear that we are talking about the leader’s arm instead of the follower’s arm which corresponds to the move where it is predominantly the leader’s arms that are twisted. There are in fact certain parts of the move where new students will initially think they cannot keep hold of both hands without breaking something and it can indeed feel very uncomfortable if the move is not executed perfectly in terms of timing and signals which is where the name of the move comes from.

While there are certainly more complicated moves which would deserve this title more, “Rompe El Brazo” is often an introduction into these type of moves for new students so it can feel like a big challenge to twist the arms in such a way that the move works smoothly without anyone getting hurt without losing the rhythm of the song.

The move itself is often confused with the move Parte El Brazo meaning “part of the arm” and in some Rueda groups the moves are used interchangeably, however, these are completely independent moves that have very little in common other than the names being similar which may be the source of confusion particularly for non-native Spanish speakers.

There are some nice elements in this move that are not commonly seen in other moves such as the leader’s left turn at the end of the initial Pimienta to be able to lead the follower into another Vacilala based turn straight away instead of a Dile Que No or the leader’s right turn underneath both hands towards the end while bringing their right hand over the follower’s head which is unusual and not easy to execute but a nice variation on some of the more common elements.

The hand sign for Rompe El Brazo consists of the sign for “Rompe” which is the caller’s free hand forming a fist and quickly pivoting it around itself in a swift motion like the movement a hand would make when trying to break a branch into two parts. This is followed by the sign for “Brazo” which is signalled by the caller grabbing their upper arm with their free hand.

To see a video of the move Rompe El Brazo as well as the hand sign, please click on: https://youtu.be/o0b6SETh37c

Trios de Casino (Part 2)

Trios de casino is a very challenging form of Casino that only few people master well and it is rare to find classes and dance teachers that go into this subject. The most commonly seen form (un hombre con dos mujeres) involves the leader taking the right hand of one follower into their left hand similarly to normal en parejas Casino while taking the second followers right hand into their right hand at the same time. That is to say, the leader will lead two followers simultaneously which requires a very good handle of the normal en parejas Casino moves in order to figure out quickly which moves can be led with one hand only. The leader not only has to give the correct signal with both hands but also ensure that the space between both followers is maintained at all times so that they are not in each other’s way. Similarly, followers need some experience in this dance form to maintain the correct body position and spatial awareness between themselves and the leader as well as the other follower. The few leaders who do master some of the basics of this style of Cuban salsa tend to use the same exact moves on both followers i.e. leading an Enchufla or a Vacilala for both followers at the same time. What is immensely more difficult is the ability to actually lead two independent moves with each hand separately i.e. leading an Enchufla with the right hand and a Vacilala with the left hand which requires the simultaneous lead of two completely different signals as well as guiding followers through independent moves without favouring one side over another. The ultimate goal is often seen as the point where special moves are executed that involve both followers at the same time so that the full trio looks like one unit in producing a move that could not be executed en parejas.

The other form of trios de casino (una mujer con dos hombres) is equally challenging and involves two leaders dancing with one follower but rather than both leaders trying to lead independently they effectively act as one unit, that is, they are joined together going into a Dile Que No type hold such that one leader will act as the left hand and the other leader will act as the right hand. In theory, this allows for almost any move to be performed in this constellation although some moves which involve a tight connection have to be slightly modified to account for the space of two people where only one person would be normally. Similar to the other style there are certain moves that can only be executed when there are exactly two leaders and one follower which is the aim for many people trying to learn this style.

Rumba (Part 1)

In the blog series “Salsa Leeches” we looked at how some dance types such as Kizomba are often pushed onto the salsa market and promoted as if they were in fact related to salsa. This causes a lot of confusion particularly among beginners who try and find some common ground between these dance types that they are asked to learn together. In reality, however, it is not their lack of musicality or dance ability that prevents them from forming any meaningful synergy between these dance types but the misleading marketing mechanism that paints these entirely different groups of dance with the same brush.

The opposite is equally true. There are many dance types that are closely related to Cuban salsa without being mentioned in a lot of dance classes and which are hardly ever danced at salsa socials. It is hard to come across an event or party where you can even hear Cuban music being played that is not immediately recognisable as “salsa” and the few instructors who are able to teach these non-mainstream dances can usually only offer some taster classes at bigger salsa congresses and events as they would simply not get enough interest to teach group classes regularly.

Out of these type of dances, some of the least common and most misunderstood dance types can be classified under the term "rumba" or also the "rumba complex" as it is more and more frequently referred to by musicologists. The complex consists predominantly of the subgenres Yambú, Guaguancó and Columbia which are seen as the three traditional forms of rumba although other styles and more modern forms are often also included in this category.

 
Even though the complex is a Cuban product of African origin that has remained popular predominantly on the island with some small success internationally, the so-called rhumba (with an h) aka ballroom rumba has made the name of the complex famous internationally while associating it with a completely different form of dance. The Cuban Ministry of Culture once stated that “Rumba sin Cuba no es rumba, y Cuba sin rumba no es Cuba" – rumba without Cuba is not rumba, and Cuba without rumba is not Cuba. I.e. Rumba is seen as one of the most characteristic dance forms of Cuba and it is therefore all the more lamentable that most people are completely ignorant about this fact and immediately think of ballroom rumba when they hear the term.

Halloween in Cuba

Halloween seems like a nice celebration that is certainly enjoyed by many people around the world. It gives kids the chance to dress up and receive sweets despite the inevitable parental concern of accepting them from strangers as well as the ensuing toothaches. Some of the cultures and customs associated with Halloween have become world famous even in countries that do not celebrate it like the carving of pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns.

While the history of Halloween is still subject to debate it is believed to have been derived in part from Christian customs some of which have Pagan roots. The origin of trick-or-treating for instance is believed to have come from a custom called souling where groups of predominantly poor people would go from house to house collecting cakes in exchange for praying for the dead in the Christian triduum of Allhallowtide which is a time to remember the dead. The modern world usually celebrates Halloween in the way it has become common place in the U.S. with some small variations locally.

However, what seems like an innocent holiday that is celebrated internationally is in fact often perceived as the epidemy of American cultural and commercial imperialism destroying local customs in the process. Customs that seemed closely related on the surface such as the German tradition of Ruebengeistern or the Mexican Día de los Muertos have already been mixed with Halloween to the point where many people believe it is one and the same thing perpetuating a process that swallows some of the traditional customs. In countries where there were no similar customs traditionally, Halloween has often been incorporated “straight from TV” and is often linked to the arrival of American troops like in Italy.

It is therefore no surprise that a country which has had rather difficult relations with the U.S. and has no problem with engaging in interventionism to protect its culture is watching the spread of American style Halloween with horror. There have been reports in recent years where salsa clubs and other touristic venues in Cuba were made to close on 31st October or had to make it a policy to not admit anyone wearing a costume. The official view in Cuba is that the holiday is something strange, alien and inappropriate that has no place in Cuban culture. Of course, the reality is that the more something is being suppressed the more interesting it becomes so inevitably there are universities in Cuba where people are starting to celebrate this American import not to mention the hotels that try to cater to the increasing amount of tourists who want to go abroad to receive the exact same thing they left behind at home.

That being said, it is maybe not as big a deal as many people fear. Cuba has a remarkable history for developing their own culture and many customs and traditions in Cuba may have influences from several countries at its core while being adapted and changed to suit the Cuban spirit. Even tourists who come to Cuba go there predominantly for the uniqueness of the Cuban culture. The very idea that things like Halloween may become a common celebration in the future after Cuban and U.S. relations are starting to ease has had many tourists come to the island over the last few years in an attempt to see the uncompromised country one last time before it becomes contaminated with globalised products such as Halloween. It is therefore questionable whether there is indeed any significant interest in Cuba to simply copy a piece of culture without any modification or whether the holiday will simply be ignored on the island in the long run. Given Cuba’s history, chances are they will take some influences from Halloween and create their own unique customs and cultures that will not be an exact copy of what everybody else does. Instead of Halloween swallowing Cuba, Cuba may just swallow Halloween.