Tresillo (Part 2)

Comparing the tresillo against all its necklace rotations (term used in musicology to describe a rotation of the same rhythmic structure onto another beat) it is found that the rhythm is used widely in practice irrespective of the necklace used. In particular Toussaint describes a necklace as robust that can be rotated around its pulse zero to obtain other popular rhythms as it is rare to find a strong popular timeline that is independent of the onset rotation in terms of its usage.

It should be noted here that it is common in musicology to denote the pulse where a rhythm starts as pulse 0, however, instead of viewing it as the initial pulse it can also be viewed as the final pulse as at the point where a rhythmic pattern is repeated the pulse is the start of the next rhythmic pattern and at the same time it is the end of the last rhythmic pattern. I.e. whether we count a 4-pulse structure as 0, 1, 2, 3, 0, 1, 2, 3,… or 4, 1, 2, 3 4, 1, 2, 3, … is irrelevant. To make this theory more accessible for dancers we will count the final pulse instead of the initial pulse in this blog as when we count the steps in salsa classes we will usually count 1, 2 ,3, (4), 5, 6, 7, (8) instead of counting (0), 1, 2, 3, (4), 5, 6, 7.

An onset rotation of a rhythm is defined as a rotation where one of the onsets falls on to pulse 0 (or pulse 8 in the below examples). As the tresillo rhythm has exactly three onsets, there are exactly 3 onset rotations if we count the tresillo rhythm itself. To make this rhythm robust according to Toussaint, all three rotations need to be used in practice which is indeed the case as illustrated below.

If we graphically represent the tresillo pattern as a necklace based on the 3 onsets across 8 pulses represented as coloured pearls we obtain something like the following illustration:

If we rotate the tresillo pattern to the right until we obtain the next onset rotation we obtain the Nandon Bawaa bell pattern of the Dagarti people of Ghana which can also be found in Bulgaria and Namibia.

The last onset rotation is the rhythm known in Korea as Samhyon Toduri which is almost a mix between the tresillo and the nandon bawaa necklace having the onsets on beats 3, 5 and 8. This rhythm is also used in Eastern Angola, Bulgaria and Turkey and is a thirteenth century Indian tala called Mathya-Tisra.

All of the examples quoted so far are popular onset rotations of the tresillo pattern proving that the tresillo necklace is robust. However, other rotations exist as well (albeit less common) which do not have an onset on pulse 8. I.e. Judith Becker describes a bass-drum used in Burmese music which is effectively a rotation of tresillo although it is not an onset rotation:

Rueda Hand Signs (Part 17) Pimienta (Con La Mano Izquierda)

This move is one of the most fundamental moves in Cuban salsa which has been part of the dance from its inception. It is the easiest variation of the elementary move Vacilala and can be seen as the counterpart to Enchufla with Enchufla being a counterclockwise turn and Pimienta being a clockwise turn for the followers

As it is so fundamental to Cuban salsa the move is common in any country across various dance schools leading to a lot of small regional variations having been developed internationally in terms of how this move is led and executed. Similarly, the move has been called by various names which are completely unrelated, thus making it often hard for dancers to understand that this move is being called when they join a new Rueda group. Some of the common names that may refer to this move are: Lento, Vacilala, Di Le Que Si, Hecho, Dedo & Pimienta.

Some of these names are particularly confusing as they can refer to different moves entirely depending on the Rueda group i.e. while Vacilala always describes this move in terms of the lead and the steps and body position of the leader and follower, there is no consensus internationally on whether the leader should keep the follower’s right hand or release it. It does however, seem much more common to describe the version where the leader releases the follower’s hand as “Vacilala” and there are less alternative names for this particular move so this is the reason we have chosen to always denote the version without hands as “Vacilala” (see the earlier post on this subject in this blog series) at Tiempo España Dance Academy to avoid ambiguity.

Similarly, the move name Di Le Que Si can mean a lot of different things internationally with one interpretation being the move described in this post so to avoid ambiguity we will never call this move by the name Di Le Que Si and instead reserve this name for a particular move that has no alternative names. Finally, referring to this move as “Dedo” seems to be a mistake rather than an acceptable synonymous title. While it is true that the move Dedo starts with the move described in this post, there are usually another 2 8-counts to Dedo so it is a much longer move than the fundamental move we are analysing here. It seems that this description is simply a mistake of some Rueda groups having forgotten the final parts of Dedo rather than denoting an acceptable synonynm of the move.

While it is possible to hear any of the terms discussed so far in Ruedas where the caller tries to get their students to perform the move discussed in this blog post they do more commonly refer to different moves entirely which is why they all have different associated hand signs. This leaves us with the terms Lento, Hecho and Pimienta (as well as possible other names that I am not aware of) for the move which seem to be equally popular internationally although Hecho is usually seen as the original description of the move. To my knowledge, out of these three names, the only term that has an associated Rueda hand sign is Pimienta although it is common to see people calling Lento or Hecho and signalling Pimienta i.e. the Pimienta hand sign has simply become the de facto standard hand sign for this move irrespective of the title by which it is being called. It is for this reason that at Tiempo España Dance Academy we have chosen to call this move by the name Pimienta as to our knowledge it is the only non-ambiguous name for the move that has an associated hand sign. 

The word Pimienta means “pepper” in Spanish and the term is interpreted in this context as denoting a pepper mill which is being turned like the follower is being turned by the leader (i.e. the turn is guided by one hand only). Pimienta Con La Mano Izquierda refers to the version of the move where the leader guides the follower with their left hand so the hand signal should also be done with the caller’s left hand. To signal the move the caller will form a fist with their left hand and turn it from left to right and vice versa to mimic the motion one would make when using a pepper mill.

To see a video of the move Pimienta Con La Mano Izquierda as well as the hand sign, please click on:https://youtu.be/oA0Csn7pH9s

Tiempo España Dance Academy Cuban Salsa Parties

After our first social event at Carlton village hall and having run two Cuban salsa parties in York which we aim to continue on a bimonthly basis, we are very happy to have found a venue in Leeds where we will run our first party this Thursday (27th July). Despite the fact that it proved more difficult to find a venue in Leeds compared to the other locations we teach in we have searched for a suitable venue for months to accommodate our growing student base in Leeds without having to make entry prices too expensive.

The venue we have found in the end comes with the perfect atmosphere that we were looking for as well as a dance floor that is the closest thing to Cuba we have seen in the UK so far. In addition, there is free parking outside the venue and people are invited to bring their own drinks along to the party so everyone can get the drinks they want and enjoy themselves dancing Cuban salsa on a Thursday night in Leeds without having to pay the usual city centre prices for an evening of fun. The building itself is in an old factory style which has lounge areas with sofas for people wanting to take a break from dancing and we have been given free reign over the remaining décor allowing us to create the friendly and homely atmosphere that we want in a place that resembles one of the dance halls of Havana in the middle of Leeds.

While the dance floor is exactly what we were looking for in terms of authenticity it is uneven in places which would initially seem like a challenge for dancers, but does just add to the flavour of the venue and should not bother any serious Cuban dancer as the dance style is designed to be suitable on any terrain with many Cubans dancing on the street or the beach. However, it may be more difficult for dancers used to the more flashy type of salsa parties often seen in the area as it is a fundamentally different flooring and atmosphere usually seen particularly in the more cross-body orientated Leeds salsa scene of recent years. We have therefore advised our students to wear footwear that allows people to keep a good balance ideally trainers instead of high-heels etc.

We do hope that enough people are able to join us at our first Cuban salsa party in Leeds and embrace the more homely atmosphere and the dance floor the same way we have when we chose the venue as we would certainly love to organise more parties there in the future. We are extremely excited to dance at this venue ourselves as for Cuban salsa dancers there is nothing like it in the area from what we have seen so far.

Tresillo (Part 1)

Tresillo is the name of one of the most widespread rhythmic structures around the world. It is fundamental to son and salsa music as it describes the three-side of clave which is the key rhythmic pattern used in salsa songs around the world. Geographically, it can be found from Marocco to Indonesia stretching across Africa, the middle East and South Asia while at the same time being fundamental to Latin American and European music. It can be found in musical types as diverse as Jazz, Mambo, Ragtime, Salsa, R&B, Rock and Roll and Tango music.

While its origin can be traced back to Sub-Saharan Africa it is unknown when exactly this rhythm was developed although the earliest reference to it comes from a manuscript in thirteenth-century Baghdad where it was called al-thakil al-thani. The slave trade is one of the key factors that contributed to the rhythm spreading around the world and it pops up throughout history in some of the most famous musical pieces ranging from George Bizet’s opera Carmen to the song Hound Dog by Elvis Presley. In fact it is used so often in traditionally music that it can be viewed as a universal rhythm or cultural meme.

Superimposed over a 2/4 metre it is famously known as the Habanera cross-rhythm, the congo, tango-congo, tango or the tresillo-over-two. This epimoric ratio (3:2) is usually referred to as hemiola or hemiolia in music, also known by its Latin name sesquialterum or sesquialtera meaning a perfect fifth. Tresillo can also be viewed as the first three cross-beats of four-over-three (sesquitertium). Tresillo, meaning "triplet" in Spanish, is the most fundamental duple-pulse rhythmic cell in Africa and Latin America and very closely related to the equally famous cinquillo pattern which can be seen as an embellishment of the tresillo rhythm. It is also closely related to the tumba francesa and the Puerto-Rican bomba.

Tresillo’s musical appeal among other things stems from the fact that it divides a measure into three notes which would normally be occupied by two notes achieving a highly syncopated structure. The rhythmical structure itself consists of 3 onsets across 8 pulses which is a very popular rhythmic structure internationally as discussed later in this blog series. The sounded pulses are on pulse 0, 3 and 6 as illustrated by the following notation: . This means that when counting the pulses from one onset to the next onset we can write tresillo in its additive form (aka durational pattern or inter-onset interval structure) as 3 + 3 + 2.