Salsa Curse (Part 1)

Salsa is a very social dance form and many people join their first salsa class as a means to make new friends and meet new people. I have met many people who join a salsa class as one of the first things they do when moving to a new place and the fact that you can dance with someone in a salsa club even if you do not speak their language is the perfect set-up for salsa enthusiasts to meet the local community when they are on holidays.

However, especially in the beginning stages, students can feel rather intimidated to just approach someone they have never met before and ask them for a dance. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that only the dance partners who know roughly the same number of moves will find your way of dancing interesting. Many leaders I know worry about whether they can keep their dance partner interested throughout the song and feel that their dancing will be boring until they learn a minimum number of moves. Similarly, many followers worry whether their dance partner will be annoyed if they cannot follow the majority of moves being led. As a result, it is very common for groups to form where people dance predominantly with the dancers they know, isolated from the other people on the dance floor. This is a somewhat natural process that certainly helps to build self-confidence and while I have heard some criticism around people who go to a salsa club and only dance with their friends or even just their partner, there is actually nothing wrong with this approach. Salsa can be extremely social but does not have to be. There is no obligation to dance with as many people as possible at an event and if two people just want to dance with each other all night and they enjoy the dance and the music while being respectful to everyone else then they should not be criticised for doing so. After all, it is their right to decide how best to enjoy their hobby and no-one would complain if you chose to say play tennis or golf with just one partner.

That being said, for most people I have met, dancing exclusively with friends is only an intermediary step to get them to a point where they are happy to dance with other people as the social aspect is something they tremendously enjoy. When that point is reached is different from person to person and is entirely a function of self-confidence. In theory, experienced dancers should always welcome newcomers onto the dance floor and a dance should never be refused on the basis of someone not being good enough or not knowing a certain number of moves. Of course, there are some more experienced dancers (albeit a rare occurrence) who have a more snobbish attitude towards beginners and refuse a dance with people who do not meet their standard or feel the need to correct them persistently on the dance floor. This behaviour is generally unwelcome as it does no favours to the beginners’ self-confidence or the reputation of the salsa community as a whole.

Generally, however, more experienced dancers are usually very happy to dance with beginners but few people have the confidence to ask someone for a dance that they perceive to be better. This tends to happen at almost every level i.e. many beginners are intimidated by improvers who are themselves nervous about asking people from intermediate levels for a dance and so on. I have seen many people stand at the side of the dance floor analysing who might be at their skill level so that they can give them an interesting dance… More on this to follow in the second part of this series.

Trios de Casino (Part 1)

One of the most amazing aspects of Casino dancing in my opinion is the sheer amount of flexibility it offers to its dancers. Any other dance form I have ever tried is very rigid in the number of partners it requires to be executed. Some dances are performed by one person on their own, some dances require exactly one male and one female dancer to dance together and few dances require a larger group of people to come together. By contrast, Casino lets us dance with as many partners as we want with no strict rules around males having to lead and females having to follow. I.e. it is common to see people of the same sex dance together, for women to lead and men to follow or even for one person to dance with various partners at the same time.

Generally speaking in Casino the dancer can be on their own (“suelto”) with a partner (“en parejas”) or in a group with other dancers (“Rueda”). This allows dancers to always find a way to dance when they want to rather than having to stay on the side-lines and watch other people dance until they find the relevant number of people willing to partner up.

The “en parejas” form of Casino requires exactly two people, whereas the Rueda form requires at least 4 people with no upper limit (technically a 3 person Rueda is possible with one person dancing on their own, however much of the look and feel of the dance form is lost with such a small number of people and many Rueda moves cannot be performed in this situation so 4 people is usually quoted as the minimum number of people for Ruedas). Therefore, there seems to be a gap for the situation where exactly 3 people want to dance together. However, this is resolved by something widely known as trio de casino, a dance form that allows one leader to dance with two followers at the same time (un hombre con dos mujeres) or the lesser known variation where two leaders will dance with one follower (una mujer con dos hombres). While the second variation is usually limited to two leaders, it is not uncommon to see the first variation as a cuarteto or even a quinteto de casino that include one leader dancing with three women (un hombre con tres mujeres) or even four women (un hombre con cuatro mujeres). This form in particular is challenging to learn and difficult to execute properly such that it is often seen as the ultimate goal for leaders to be able to master their signals to such perfection that they can lead multiple people at the same time without there being any confusion among the followers. However, it should be noted that the look and feel of this variation is quite different to the standard Casino partner dance so not every follower may be interested in joining this dance form and it should never be assumed that they are willing to join a trio de casino just because they have agreed to dance. I.e. some leaders will ask a follower to dance and then move on to ask another follower to join them, however, this is generally considered bad form. Instead, a leader should ask both followers from the start whether they are willing to dance a trio de casino with them. In other words, this dance form comes with its own set of moves and etiquette despite being fundamentally connected to the standard en parejas form of the dance.

Rueda Hand Signs (Part 6) Enchufla Doble

Enchufla Doble is one of the many variations of Enchufla and is arguably the most common Enchufla version that is being taught and danced internationally. It creates a very nice visual effect despite the fact that it is a simple modification of the standard Enchufla version and is therefore often taught fairly quickly after students have mastered the Enchufla step. “Doble” meaning “double” is a common qualifier that is used to differentiate various salsa moves such as Vacilala Doble, Sombrero Doble, Rehilete Doble, Setenta Doble etc.

Other tuples such as triple, cuádruple, quintuple, etc. as qualifiers for salsa variations exist as well but they are significantly less common than the doble versions. Usually, the way the doble version of a move is executed provides a general structure for how the n-tuple version of a move should be done. I.e. this means after learning Enchufla Doble dancers can immediately extrapolate from what they have learned to be able to incorporate Enchufla Triple, Enchufla Cuádruple etc. into their dance without having to be shown these moves explicitly. However, there are some n-tuple moves which are standalone versions and have to be learned separately i.e. Bayamo Triple.

What differentiates tuples from other qualifiers such as complicado, loco, moderno etc. is the fact that the move is executed several times according to the number implied by the tuple while being changed at least once from the standard version of the move. I.e. it is like connecting different versions of the same move into one large combination.
It is common for tuple combinations to contain the standard version at least once (i.e. Enchufla Doble contains Enchufla, Vacilala Doble contains Vacilala, etc.) and usually there will be a reversal of some of the steps as part of the move (i.e. in Enchufla Doble the first 3 steps are reversed on 5,6,7. In Sombrero Doble the first 8 count is reversed in the second 8 count etc.)

This is a key differentiation to cardinal numbers being used as qualifiers which either signal repetition of the move when mentioned before the name of the move (i.e. Dos Vacilala), or signal repetition of a key element of the move (i.e. double turn in Vacilala Dos), as supposed to a sequence of different versions of the same move (i.e. Vacilala Doble). The fact that these nuances sound similar especially when being called in a noisy environment does not make it easier for students to grasp these somewhat technical but very important differences. Many students as well as teachers therefore, get confused between the various number systems used to describe specific versions and it is not uncommon to find instructional videos or classes that mix up these terms (i.e. calling a move Siete Doble but meaning Dos Siete etc.).

In terms of the hand signals used for qualifiers, generally speaking the hand signals follow the same order as the name of the move. I.e. Signalling Dos Vacilala uses the signal for “Dos” followed by the signal for “Vacilala” whereas signalling Vacilala Dos switches the order in which these components are being signalled. Additionally, cardinal numbers are signalled with the palm of the hand facing the inside of the Rueda whereas tuples are beings signalled with the back of the hand facing the inside of the Rueda. To signal “Doble” we lift both the index and middle finger in the air forming a fist with the other finger and showing the back of the hand to the centre of the Rueda. To signal Enchufla Doble we show the signal of Enchufla followed by the signal for Doble.

 

To see a video of the move Enchufla Doble as well as the hand sign, please click on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H38D0yz9HZg&feature=youtu.be

Clave (Part 3) – Clave Definitions

Clave, in its broadest sense, is sometimes understood as any type of rhythmical pattern which organises time in music. In this sense it can be seen as any temporal structuring devise in music that acts as a reference for the musicians to keep the rhythmical structure of the song. It is a rhythmic ostinato, also referred to as timeline that repeats throughout a song and can be felt rather than sounded. In fact, it is common practice for modern salsa bands to remove the clave from a musical piece while maintaining the same underlying structure, that is, all the instruments respect the clave event though it is no longer an audible component of the song, an effect known as implied clave. Since a higher level of musicality is required for all musicians (as well as dancers) to maintain the clave rhythm in a song which no longer has a clavero playing it out, it is often seen as a higher achievement to produce or dance to songs which have their clave implied. Latin music communities which have a high degree of musical experience sometimes regard songs containing a sounded clave rhythm as beginner songs and many bands will practice without the use of clave. If the pattern is subsequently lost during a particular music section, the band leader will sound the clave out aloud to get everyone back into rhythm. This is often felt as a form of punishment for losing the rhythm in the first place and many bands will aim to incorporate solos, improvisations etc. into a musical piece without the band leader having to sound the clave once.

When all the musician in a band synchronise with the clave then the musical piece is said to be in clave. On the other hand, a certain rhythmical pattern that is simply superimposed on a song, without acting as a guide to the other instruments is usually not considered a clave even if it bears similarities with the structure of say a Rumba clave when viewed in isolation. I.e. it is the usage of a structure shaping pattern rather than just a rhythm that turns a repeating sound into a clave.

Outside of this general definition it is easy to find sub-definitions among musicians internationally as to what criteria a pattern has to fulfil for it to be considered clave. Many popular patterns have been widely discussed as to whether they deserve the classification as clave or not particularly when compared to similar patterns of Bazilian, North American and African origin. I.e. the famous Brazilian “bossa clave” aka bossa nova pattern or Brazilian clave which differs from son clave by only one note is not actually being considered clave by its inventor Antonio Carlos Jobim who regretted how the role of this pattern was misunderstood by many musicians.
Some people consider the standard bell pattern a clave which is simultaneously rejected by a number of musicologists and further distortions of the name clave such as Wynton Marsalis calling the tresillo rhythmic figure the “New Orleans clave”, even though the pattern is actually only half a clave, have contributed to this concept being widely misunderstood.

In this series we will be looking at the structure and history of the Afro-Cuban clave patterns which were introduced in the last post: Son clave and rumba clave. These are often seen as the archetypal forms of clave and we will analyse why they have become so popular and what their significance are with respect to Casino and other forms of Cuban dances.