Confusion (Part 3)

As discussed in the previous post on this subject, it is a shame that even in modern times it is so uncommon for men to dance as followers or women to dance as leaders that most people will never attempt to learn a non-traditional role. Even though there must be plenty of men who would actually prefer following and plenty of women who would prefer leading they are simply denied the chance to do so by most dance schools not even acknowledging this option. The few isolated courageous people who give this a go despite hardly anyone else doing this usually have to ask their dance teachers whether “it is allowed” to switch roles and I have seen many schools deny this categorically. In fact, some of my own students who have moved to different cities have sometimes stopped dancing salsa altogether as the schools they joined subsequently made them stick to their traditionally assigned roles rather than letting them learn the role they wanted.

At least in some of the Western countries I have danced in, there seems to be an increasing acceptance of women leading other women and especially in the salsa community this is something I come across much more frequently than when I started dancing. However, rather than this being a major improvement in dance attitude it is often simply a factor of there being a lot more women in dance classes than men. So rather than two women dancing together being a symbol for greater openness it is often a symbol of a “men don’t dance” type of attitude that is unfortunately still a mentality issue in various regions. I.e. Often women simply get fed up with having to wait forever until they receive a partner so they bite the bullet and start leading rather than making this decisions consciously to learn how to lead. It is therefore not completely uncommon for a class with say 13 women and 4 men to see one or two women leading. However, it is nearly impossible to find this in a dance class where the gender ratio is fairly balanced. Moreover, while women may lead other women it is very rare to see women leading men or men leading other men as the social stigma around masculinity seems to be even more prohibitive for men to try out following.

In summary, this type of attitude leads to most dancers never experiencing the other role even if they might enjoy it more and despite the fact that learning both roles would almost certainly improve every aspect of their dance.
The move confusion changes this attitude significantly and makes both men and women want to learn how to lead and follow irrespective of the gender of the partner they are dancing with.

Confusion (Part 2)

One of the aspects of dancing that sometimes seems surprising to new beginners is the fact that at least in the beginning stages most people find leading more difficult than following. This has nothing to do with gender and is maybe an unfair statement when analysing very advanced forms of any dance where the styling and musicality elements of following can be just as hard if not harder than leading. Nonetheless, most people would agree that in the beginning stages there are simply more factors happening at the same time for leaders which usually makes it more difficult to be picked up irrespective of whether this role is being learned by a man or a woman.

This would not be an issue per se if everyone accepted this from the beginning and both men and women were happy to go into a new dance class and learn both roles. However, what makes the role division problematic is the fact that internationally most women want to learn how to follow and most men want to learn how to lead. This is not because they have made a conscious choice that leading or following looks or feels better to them or that they want to learn a certain role for a specific reason. Rather, it is usually an unconscious decision based on the culture that surrounds them. I.e. if you never see a man following and a woman leading when you watch people dance on TV or at any social gatherings then you may not even realise that you have this choice when you want to pick up a new dance. Taking this one step further, there should be absolutely no reason why two men or two women cannot dance together but it is rare to find examples of either.

In my opinion this is a fundamentally flawed approach to partner dancing in general and makes aspects of dancing sexist and homophobic which is deeply shameful considering how much almost everyone who tries out both roles enjoys them as completely separate forms of dancing something that is virtually inaccessible to most dancers due to social stigmas dictating the way they are supposed to enjoy their hobby.

On the other hand, the move confusion changes this attitude entirely and suddenly makes it socially acceptable for men to dance as followers and women to dance as leaders as it makes everyone switch roles at the same time. Particularly, within a Rueda it immediately removes anyone’s worry that they will be looked at in a funny way or judged by the other dancers in the room as everyone within the Rueda is in the same position. This to me is one of the nicest side effects of this move. It is not only an incredibly fun way of spicing up your dance and a difficult and rare skill for dancers to switch from one role to another but it allows people to try out another role that they would usually not feel comfortable with.

Rueda Hand Signs (Part 32) El Uno

El Uno (meaning “The One”) is one of the many Cuban salsa moves that are named after a number. While there are many such moves that have no deeper meaning and are simply given their name sequentially, due to a lack of a better description, el uno is one of the few numbered moves whose name is more meaningful. In isolation this may not seem obvious but it is apparent particularly when comparing this move to another move referred to as “El Dos”. In El Uno we spend one entire 8-count in Parte El Brazo Con Dos Manos whereas in El Dos the same sequence is performed for 2 8-counts (as well as switching the position of leaders and followers). It is therefore the duration of Parte El Brazo Con Dos Manos, which is the key element of these two moves, that is responsible for the name.

El Uno starts by a Parte El Brazo Con La Mano Derecha for the first 3 steps at which point the leader picks up the follower’s left hand with their own left hand before going back to the original position. Keeping both hands, the leader does an Enchufla amd brings their right hand over the follower’s head while at the same time keeping their left hand low to finish the move by bringing both hands over both heads similarly to the end of Sombrero.

In terms of footwork El Uno is effectively an Enchufla Doble Y Quedate. It is therefore important that the steps are executed as such and no shortcuts are taken. In fact, one of the most common mistakes with this move is that dancers often do not turn properly to face each other when holding both hands in Parte El Brazo Con Dos Manos but the more they turn the better this move looks and feels and it is easier to maintain eye contact.

The hand sign for El Uno consists of the leader pointing their index finger upwards to signal the number one.

Confusion (Part 1)

Confusion is probably my favourite aspect of Cuban salsa and it is central to the way Aimi and I run our dance school. It is something that entirely changes the dynamics of dancing and separates Cuban salsa from any other form of partner dance I have learned. It is something that can catch you completely by surprise when social dancing and make the dance so much more interesting. It fundamentally changes the relationships between leaders and followers and makes performances even more exciting as spectators no longer understand who is leading whom. Additionally, it makes dancers significantly better in their original roles as well as becoming more respectful to their partners as they learn how it feels to be in their partner’s shoes.

The idea of confusion is that leaders and followers switch places such that the leader becomes the follower and vice versa. This can be done for the duration of an entire dance or even more interestingly, the roles can be switched multiple times within one single dance.

There are many variations in the way this move is done and various schools know this move under different names but the fundamental idea is always centred around leaders and followers switching roles which adds a component to Cuban salsa that is unheard of in more conservative dance forms.

Whichever method is ultimately chosen for leaders and followers to switch places, there are two distinct structures that can be seen within the schools where confusion is taught: Some schools teach this move in such a way that the leader initiates and leads confusion until the point where they become the follower themselves. Other schools will insist on the fact that it should be the followers that decides on when Confusion is executed such that the leader loses control 4 beats earlier than in method 1. While on the surface this may not seem like a big difference, the implications are significant. At Tiempo España Dance Academy we have adapted the second method as we believe this to be the key in making this move meaningful both in terms of the dance itself as well as the culture it fosters. This will be outlined in greater detail throughout the rest of this blog series.

Hi, my name is John and I'm a salsaholic...

My name is John and I'm a salsaholic! I came to dancing pretty late in life but I've enjoyed every moment of it.

My first encounter with dancing was cross-body salsa but although I was fine during classes and picked up the routines quickly, I didn't get to grips with freestyle and so for me it fell by the wayside.

I've spent the last 10 years involved with Ceroc, including crewing for them in Leeds and competing at national level over the last four years or so.

I discovered Tiempo España Dance Academy by chance as there was a class held at one of my Ceroc venues. I went to my first Cuban Salsa class with a completely open mind without any preconceptions.

Well, what I could not have been prepared for was the very detailed instruction I received from Ben and Aimi. It felt quite alien at first as each step was broken down into constituent parts and gradually put back together again, first in partner hold and then in rueda. After the first class I was unsure if this was for me but I decided to stick with it and to see what the next few weeks would bring!

I wasn’t disappointed! After the second week, I got into the routine of breaking down the moves and recognising the Spanish names and was surprised by how many moves I'd actually learnt! After a few weeks I decided that my next step was the Leeds venue where there would be people much more experienced than myself!

It was great! There was no pressure and everyone was so friendly. I was soon progressing through Level 2 to Level 3 thanks to Ben and Aimi sneaking more advanced moves into my classes without me really noticing! I felt comfortable in Level 3 and confident I could cope with the moves and keep up pretty well with everyone else in rueda.

However, I was now hungry for more and so eventually plucked up the courage to leap into Level 4, hoping that my previous experience would stand me in good stead for more advanced moves. Well, thankfully I knew most of the Level 3 moves called in Level 4 but wow, the L4 moves were a challenge! However, once I'd mastered a few of the moves and I knew I could pull them off, it felt fantastic in rueda!!

I then progressed to Confusion (role reversal) and subsequently to levels 5 and 6. Now that is serious stuff, but so much fun and I've since trained to teach up to Level 2/3 which I enjoy so much! So this is how an average rueda went for me as I was learning:


The music starts #

Straight into basic step (I'm quite comfortable at this point) The first Dame (that's fine too).

The next three moves are pretty basic so no problem there (firmly lodged in muscle memory).

The next half a dozen moves or so I've done loads before so okay so far).

Uh oh, this next one we haven't done for a while and I have 3 beats to remember the move (Yes, I've got it – nice one!)

No time to relax, here’s another move we haven't done in a few weeks (quick, dig deep, remember the start and you’ve got it. Yes, that’s the one)!

Okay, this next one’s tricky! I know I've done it before but can't remember the start – 2 beats left to remember it ! (I take a chance on a sombrero start and keep one eye on the Cantante...... bingo, I’ve got it).

Not quite so lucky on the next move – I have no idea! (I just blag it and as long as I finish on the right beat I'm okay - I'm not the only one who's gone wrong this time so maybe no one noticed! You can't win ‘em all!)


And so it continues throughout the track, forcing you to stay alert and focused every second! The result is that everyday cares just fade away because you have no time to bring them to mind. For that few minutes there's the dance and only the dance! That's the magic of Cuban Salsa!

Tiempo España Dance Academy Is Growing

We have certainly had our ups and downs and it has not always been easy to run a Cuban salsa school in Yorkshire. Nonetheless, the trend has been upwards from the beginning and our classes and events are busier than ever. Particularly our Leeds class has attracted a lot of new students lately culminating in one evening recently where we had more than 40 people join us for our various classes.

What has been particularly enjoyable to watch, however, is the fact that some of our regular students have reached such a high level of dancing that they are increasingly interested in aspects other than just learning new moves. We have been able to teach different Rueda structures such as Confusion, Rueda Pa’ Fuera, Rueda Espejo etc. as well as working increasingly on musicality by introducing such concepts as dancing Contratiempo. Many of our students use Guapea as a basic step and add additional steps or other forms of styling to make their dance look better which is a huge shift even from just a year ago.

This has resulted in an increased demand for more advanced classes which we have responded to by introducing new level 6 classes at the start of this month as well as increasing the frequency of our level 5 classes to Wednesdays and Saturdays. We now run 6 classes (level 1 to level 6) every Saturday from 6pm to 8pm as well as running level 2 to level 5 every Wednesday with an additional new level 1 beginner’s class being offered on the first Wednesday of each month from 7:30pm to 8:30pm.

We are very excited about our students having reached a level where we can offer level 6 as it is a major milestone both for our students as well as Tiempo España Dance Academy as a dance school. It is at this level that we want to introduce students to performing and focus on perfecting the moves they have learned to date to be able to showcase what they have achieved to others. We will be adding elements of related Cuban dances to the performance so will be increasingly offering classes that focus on dances such as Rumba, Mambo, Son etc. We won’t push anyone into performing with us but we will teach the same background to everyone who has reached level 6 and whether they end up performing this or not it will hugely improve their social dancing as they become more comfortable with all aspects surrounding Cuban salsa.

Tresillo (Part 5)

In the Western world Tresillo can be traced back to ancient Greece where it is believed to have entered European music and where it first appeared under the name dochmiac rhythm aka dochmius. It was originally a metric element that first appeared in the works by Aeschylus. It soon became a widespread rhythmical structure that rose to such popularity as to be considered a signature rhythm by the time Renaissance music was developed.

Through its historic relationship with Cuba, tresillo rose to popularity in New Orleans in the 1800s where it eventually helped to form ragtime with its subsequent influence on American music. It helped to shape jazz syncopation, lent itself to R&B music and became so popular in New Orleans music that the famous musician Wynton Learson Marsalis considers it to be the New Orleans "clave".

In terms of modern Cuban music, the rhythmic pattern has become particularly important in salsa songs as it denotes the 3-side of the son clave pattern. As such it is inherent to the vast majority of salsa songs whether it is played out or implied. It is the tresillo pattern that creates tension in the clave and is therefore referred to as the strong side of the clave irrespective of whether the clave pattern is 2-3 or 3-2. By comparison, the two side of the clave is often called “debil”, meaning the weak side of the clave which has the function of releasing the tension created by tresillo.

Moreover, tresillo is also the rhythmic basis of the bass and the conga drum in Afro-Cuban music which led to its use as the rhythmic pattern in son montuno, mambo and salsa dubbed “tumbao”. Sometimes the tumbao pattern is played by carrying the last beat over to the next measure leading to a rhythmic structure where only the two offbeats of the tresillo pattern are sounded. In this form the pattern is often called the bombo-ponche tumbao with bombo referring to the first off-beat and ponche referring to the second off-beat. While there are many variations on the tumbao rhythm based on the tresillo structure two main categories of this rhythm have emerged: Tumbao that coincides or emphasises the clave tresillo pattern is called clave aligned whereas a tumbao rhyth that does not fulfil this condition is usually referred to as clave neutral.