Rueda Hand Signs (Part 16) Setenta

As discussed in the post on Mini Setenta, Setenta based moves are among the most commonly seen moves in Cuban salsa and probably the moves with the most amount of variations. Many dance schools will not teach Mini Setenta as a separate move and will instead progress to teach the full Setenta move as the basis for any more complicated variations. The problem with this is that while most dance schools seem to agree on the first 1.5 8-counts i.e. the part that makes up Mini Setenta, it is nearly impossible to find two dance schools that teach the full Setenta move in exactly the same way. Left or right turns, Alardes and Ganchos are among the most common embellishments of this move after the mini Setenta part and hearing a new caller shout Setenta will almost inevitably lead to some people performing a slightly different moves to others.

At Tiempo España Dance Academy we teach Setenta as a combination of Mini Setenta (although instead of dropping the follower’s left hand after bringing it over the leader’s head to go into Dile Que No the leader will keep hold of it and instead perform an Alarde to end up facing the follower at the end of the Mini Setenta part) and Enchufla Ronde. In order to stay consistent we teach every other Setenta variation to finish with a Ronde at the end and most Setenta moves will in fact end the exact same way as Setenta i.e. with an Enchufla Ronde at the end. Since most Setenta moves start with a Mini Setenta and end with Enchufla Ronde, the move Setenta can be seen as the most basic stripped-down version of the move as it consists entirely of just these two elements without any additional steps or embellishments.

In our higher level classes we teach various styling aspects such as Alardes, Juego de Manos, Ganchos, etc. that can be used to change the ending of Setenta and the way it look as a result. We also teach a variety of more complicated Setenta moves similar to other dance schools but the reason we chose this particular ending structure for Setenta moves above all other possible variations that share the same name internationally is the fact that a Ronde at the end balances somewhat the fact that the followers are having to turn throughout the move without the leaders having to turn too much so a leader turn at the end creates a higher contrast both in terms of how the dance feels as well as how it looks to spectators. This is also a good way to combine it directly with other moves such as Sakala or Dile Que No Con La Mano Derecha which are not seen too often on the dance floor.

The hand sign for Setenta is the index finger of the free hand pointing downwards while the thumb is stretched out such that thumb and index finger combined show the number 7. Shaking the hand when calling the move is a way to signal the number 70 and therefore Setenta.

To see a video of the move Setenta as well as the hand sign, please click on: https://youtu.be/Y-xOHzi4fnA

EGREM

EGREM stands for Empresa de Grabaciones y Ediciones Musicales or in English “Enterprise of Recordings and Musical Editions”. Founded in 1964, it is the national record label of Cuba having recorded the vast majority of artists that remained on the island although many artists such as Celia Cruz and Cachao went into exile and recorded their songs abroad. Egrem has its headquarters in Miramar at Calle San Miguel No. 410, Centro Habana, Havana and runs a website on www.egrem.com.cu. The logo of the label consists of an upraised hand forming a tree with musical notes as leaves.

Egrem’s catalog comprises of audio and audiovisual recordings since the 1960s and is the most extensive catalogue of Cuban music around the world. Previously hard to come by internationally, EGREM struck a deal with Sony on 15 Sept 2015 to make the entire catalogue of over 20000 recorded tracks available to the international market as part of a multi-year agreement. This was a historic moment made possible by the thawing relations between the US and Cuba who restored diplomatic relations in July of the same year. It is a real privilege for the international salsa community to be able to access EGREM’s records of the last five decades on the back of this deal while only small portions of the catalogue had been released to various international labels before the EGREM – Sony deal was struck.

EGREM had been built on the back of the nationalization of Panart, Gema, Fama, Corona and Duarte by Fidel Castro’s regime and held a monopoly on music production in Cuba until 1980. Until 1996, EGREM distributed music recorded at its Havana studios using the sublabel Areito and music from its Santiago de Cuba studios under the imprint Siboney. Egrem’s studios are called Areito 101 and 102 and Calle 18 at Havana and Siboney at Santiago de Cuba. EGREM also manages live venues at Miramar, Havana, Trinidad, Santiago de Cuba, Cienfuegos, la Casa de la Trova and el Patio de los Dos Abuelo under the name Casa de la Música. Areito LPs and EPs were internationally marketed under the imprint Palma during the 1960s which was subsequently replaced by Guamá, a sublabel launched by EGREM to commercialise Cuban music around the world.

While EGREM had many initial difficulties resulting from the communist regime such as the inputs necessary for the production of vinyls not being readily available it experienced some investments in recent decades that allowed it to take part in the international market to some extent. That being said, with the constant change in technology and the on-going effects of the embargo it is still no match for international labels competing in capitalist environments where heavy investments and technologically driven quality enhancements are key to competitiveness.

Cuban Salsa History (Part 2) Taíno

When Columbus arrived in Cuba the Taíno, who had migrated to Cuba from Hispaniola, were the dominant tribe of indigenous people on the island. Along with the Siboney who also lived in Cuba before the Spaniards arrived they were part of a cultural group called the Arawak who populated parts of South America and the Caribbean.

After their arrival in Cuba, the Europeans were greeted and welcomed by the largely unarmed Taíno with generosity a sentiment that was not returned. On the contrary, after only a small period of peaceful coexistence the Spaniards raped Taíno women and enslaved or killed the men on the island. Taíno were forced to work in mines and plantations instead of planting the crops that had fed them for centuries and many Taíno starved to death as a result. The crimes of the Spanish against the native population was so shocking and atrocious that even by Western standards of the time eye witnesses had to admit that the Spanish were kinder to their animals than to the Taíno. However, much more harmful than the harsh treatment of the newcomers on the island to the indigenous population was the infectious diseases they brought with them. A smallpox outbreak in Hispaniola killed 90% of all Native Americans who had survived the initial encounter with the colonialists and in 1529, a measles outbreak in Cuba killed two-thirds of the remaining natives who had previously survived smallpox. Mass suicides to avoid subjugation was another factor contributing to the Taíno being nearly extinct after only 50 years of the Spaniards arriving in Cuba.
This genocide was legitimised in the name of Christianity with a common practice being the burning alive of 13 Taíno at a time – in memory of Jesus and his 12 Apostles – and the cruelties committed against the native population often for sport were justified in that they were considered “salvajes sin dios” – “godless savages”.

Hatuey, a Taíno chief, led an unsuccessful rebellion against the invading Spanish becoming one of the first fighters resisting colonialism in the New World a fact that earned him the title of "Cuba's First National Hero". When he was captured he was tied to a stake to be burned alive and a priest asked him if he would accept Jesus and go to heaven to which he famously responded: “if Christians go to heaven, I do not want to go”.

More on this to follow in the next blog post.

Cuban Salsa Evolution (Part 3)

In the last 2 blog posts in this series I discussed the initial stages most groups will go through before they can hope to influence the way Cuban salsa is danced and performed internationally. The final category of Cuban salsa groups not only produces new moves but also helps to invent and shape the dance form itself by adding new elements and aspects into the dance that enhances the overall structure of Cuban salsa such that new moves are possible subsequently.

This may be a small change that affects parts of a move but can subsequently be used in more complicated moves to make the dance form look and feel slightly different while being able to merge this with more traditional structures. I.e a good example is the change from Coca Cola to Coca Cola Al Reves which involves a slightly different way in leading and following the move while the steps start in a similar way to Coca Cola but then become fundamentally different at the end of the move. This new element has been so readily accepted that it can now be seen as part of many complex moves taught by different dance schools internationally without anyone questioning the authenticity of Coca Cola Al Reves.

Some changes are so fundamental that they do not just affect certain aspects of the move but the entire structure of how Cuban salsa can be danced. I.e. moves such as Confusion or Espejo add a new component to Cuban salsa as a whole that allows any move to be executed in a different manner and Rueda formations such as Rueda Al Linear or Rueda Pa’ Fuera change the way the dance looks and feels when dancing as a group of people.

This level is nearly impossible to achieve without years of practice and studying every aspect of the dance in detail as any structural change made to the dance itself has to fit in with all the traditional moves and any move that has become accepted as part of Cuban salsa. It should be possible to lead and follow new elements by giving distinct signals that are unambiguous with any signal used for different moves and it should be intuitive enough that a good follower can pick up the lead easily while social dancing without having been trained excessively in the new element.

Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of elementary and structural changes have come out of Cuba where the popularity of this dance allows Rueda groups and couples to compete against each other searching constantly for new ways that the dance can be transformed to impress the judges and spectators while staying within the framework of Cuban salsa. However, a few schools have made it to this level internationally so the dance has become a true global product that is not only danced in different countries but is actually evolving around the world.

Cuban Salsa History (Part 1) Close Hold

The more I read about Cuban salsa the more I am amazed by the various factors that contributed to the dance evolving into its current form. While it has a very rich culture and history it is still subject to much debate and research due to a lot of factors having never been documented or if so being lost to the international community due to select Spanish documents never reaching the English speaking world i.e. due to the embargo against Cuba. In this blog series I will focus on isolated aspects of the dance and give a historical overview of how they came about rather than giving a complete chronological history of the dance as there are some very interesting stories to be told around seemingly unimportant aspects of the dance that seem to have been largely forgotten by the salsa community overall.

In this first post I want to discuss the close hold used in the Tiempo España formation which to my surprise was introduced to Cuba via Waltz where it had been first adopted. Intuitively, I would have never connected the two dances in any way but there is evidence to suggest that European colonialists danced Waltz on the island as early as 1814. While the close hold was considered outrageous at first it soon became popular and led to the development of Danzón in 1879 which subsequently influenced Son and Casino.

When new students come into my salsa class today few people find the close hold to be a provocative posture, in fact, there are so many moves and gestures in various dances which require much closer body contact and involve more provocative gestures that the standard close hold as such seems like nothing special any more and has been accepted by society overall. Especially in the context of salsa having the reputation of being a more sensual dance it is rather amusing to think that Waltz was once the most provocative dance on the planet and people in Cuba as much as in any other country were shocked and outraged when they first came across this hold. I.e. this can be seen by the Times of London writing in response to the Prince Regent's grand ball in 1816:

“We remarked with pain that the indecent foreign dance called the Waltz was introduced (we believe for the first time) at the English court on Friday last … it is quite sufficient to cast one's eyes on the voluptuous intertwining of the limbs and close compressor on the bodies in their dance, to see that it is indeed far removed from the modest reserve which has hitherto been considered distinctive of English females. So long as this obscene display was confined to prostitutes and adulteresses, we did not think it deserving of notice; but now that it is attempted to be forced on the respectable classes of society by the civil examples of their superiors, we feel it a duty to warn every parent against exposing his daughter to so fatal a contagion.”

Similarly, an infamous quote from the English magazine, Belgravia, on the scandalous nature of waltz reads as follows:

“We who go forth of nights and see without the slightest discomposure our sister and our wife seized on by a strange man and subjected to violent embraces and canterings round a small-sized apartment – the only apparent excuse for such treatment being that it is done to the sound of music – can scarcely realize the horror which greeted the introduction of this wicked dance.”

The exact point in time when the close hold was first invented is not known but among the earliest references to this form of dancing comes from Montaigne who wrote that he saw people in Augsburg dance so closely that their faces touched in 1580. Various historical references point to this hold being adopted in early forms of Waltz in South Germany within the 17th and 18th century but it failed to reach international fame until it become fashionable in Vienna in 1780.