Rueda Hand Signs (Part 28) Ochenta Y Ocho

This move effectively consists of a Sombrero, a Coca Cola and an Enchufla. When broken down into its elementary parts it does not seem like a very complicated move but the main feature that makes this move hard to pick up initially is the Coca Cola part which contains some rather unusual characteristics. I.e. while it is possible to lead a full Coca Cola during this move, most leaders and followers will turn slightly less on their final step to make it easier to go into Enchufla straight away.

The main factor that makes this move interesting and is the de facto signature of this move is the fact that leaders will drop only the right hand after their first Sombrero and pick up the follower’s right hand again straight away but behind the follower’s left hand. This part is quite awkward to get used to initially and takes a lot of practise to be able to execute it smoothly especially when leading a Coca Cola from this position but it is a very nice visual effect that also features in some more complicated moves. It is important that leaders raise their hands at the right time and high enough for the followers to do their Coca Cola as it is easy to bump into each other if the Coca Cola is not prepared and signalled perfectly.

The name Ochenta Y Ocho meaning “eighty-eight” comes undoubtedly from the shapes the hands make when executing this move. The key feature that is specific to this move is when the leader’s hands change from the initial Sombrero into the Coca Cola starting position described above. It is at this point that the hands form a figure of eight at the end of sombrero followed by the leader dropping the follower’s right hand and picking it up again behind the follower’s left hand which creates another figure of eight. Therefore, the key feature of the move looks like an eight followed by another eight when looking at the hands and arms of the dancers, hence the name eighty-eight.

The signal of the move consists of the cantante using the thumb, index and middle fingers of their free hand to form the number eight. While forming this signal they should show it to the rest of the dancers and shake their hand to signal “eighty”, followed by showing the exact same signal again but without shaking it to signal the word “eight”.

To see a video of the move Ochenta y Ocho as well as the hand sign, please click on: https://youtu.be/h_ltRJ9Brr0

Sabor DKY

Sabor DKY are one of the best Rueda groups in the world and an inspiration to any aspiring Rueda student. They are based in Santiago de Cuba and have been dancing and performing for over 15 years under the directorship of Yanek Revilla.

This image "Yanek Revilla — salsa star of Cubamemucho" is by Cubamemucho Odessa redistributed under the Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0

Aimi and I had the incredible fortune to see them live as well as attend some of their classes at the 10th anniversary of the Ruedafestival Stuttgart from 17th to 29th July. Their performances were mesmerising to watch and far above anything we had witnessed to date and the privilege of being taught by them directly in some of their classes was a simply unforgettable experience.
The dancers we saw that weekend included, Yisel Cuba, Luis Pineda de los Santos, Ailen Robinson, Gustavo Salas, Clara Nieto, Ronald Fisher and Yurisley Rodriguez as well Yanek Revilla himself who is nothing short of a living legend having won the world championship in both the couple and the Rueda category.

Sabor DKY (pronounced “Sabor de Calle”) aka Salseros DKY was first performing under the name Casino.com winning the first place of the 2004 Bailar Casino competition and the 2004 and 2006 competitions of Metamoroson. They continued to win many other prices throughout the course of their dance career and became increasingly well known internationally from 2009 onwards performing at some of the biggest salsa festivals in the world. For many years Karelia Despaigne, another world renowned Cuban dancer, was a huge influence on Sabor DKY working with Yanek Revilla before focusing on her group Tierra Kaliente.

Dancers of Sabor DKY are true masters of many Cuban dances including son, cha cha cha, rumba, orisha and reggaeton which all have a huge influence on their freestyle dances as well as their choreographies. They can be seen in the official music video “El Lunar” by Septeto Santiaguero as well as a plethora of their own videos that have been published online.

Sabor DKY are among the few Cuban dancers that perform internationally, so if you get the chance to see them live do not miss the chance! Their Ruedas are truly of a world class quality and anyone who is enthusiastic about Rueda de Casino or in fact Cuban dances in general will be amazed by their shows. It is a huge privilege to witness their performances or even be taught by them in one of their classes so I will certainly try my best to see them again in the future.

Cultural Partner: Selby IT & Language

Since we have started partnering up with language schools in Yorkshire we have had a few of our students sign up for Spanish classes which they seem to have thoroughly enjoyed so far. More and more of our students are going to Cuba on a dance holiday and are showing an interest for the lyrics of salsa songs so the language aspect is becoming an increasingly important factor which supplements our classes. While we have partnered up with various language schools in the region most of our students are still unaware that Aimi and I have been running our own language school for the past 2 years. Unfortunately we do not offer any foreign language group classes at the moment but we continue to run private classes in Spanish, German, Japanese, French and Italian which we run predominantly from our home at 56 The Haven, YO8 8BJ, Selby through our partnership “Selby IT & Language”.

Especially for our salsa students these classes may be of particular interest as we can focus on translation, meaning and significance of lyrics in accordance with our own research and advise on aspects relevant to dancing as well as the culture surrounding the dance.

As such, we have decided to offer a 10% discount to any of our salsa students who regularly attend classes offered by Tiempo España Dance Academy and similarly students who attend classes by Selby IT and Language will only have to pay the student price when buying an 8-week pass for salsa.

To find out more about the language classes we offer, please consult our website at itandlanguage.wixsite.com/itandlanguage and If you would like to receive the discount for the language course, please speak to Aimi or myself in class.