Cuban Salsa

The Casino Salsa (Cuban Salsa) is the style of salsa danced in Cuba that takes elements from the afrocuban dances such as the Son, the Rumba with some moves and turns inspired in the Rock’n´Roll that the Northamericans took to the island in the 1950’s.

With Israel Andalón you can learn in the following places:

Cuban Salsa (Casino) Beginners	Wednesdays or Fridays 7pm at La Bodeguita del Medio.
Intermediate Cuban Salsa & Rueda de Casino.	Fridays 8:30pm at Cloud Nine.

Or book a private dance class with Israel through Airbnb:

https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/418420

Style:

The Salsa Casino dance style (or Cuban Salsa) consists of circular movements where the woman walks in almost perpendicular directions to the man (paseos) or, standing almost face to face, approaches him and then moves back (guapea). This is different from the Anglo-Saxon salsa styles (eg: salsa en linea) where the movements are more straight. Unlike the Anglo-Saxon styles that promote the multiple turns of the woman on her axis and a rigid and stylized emphasis on the arms, the Cuban style promotes cadence, emphasis on the elbows, postures at different levels and complex entanglements of the arms of the woman and the man.

Timing:

For dancers, the music is usually divided into 8 beats, with beats 1, 3, 5, 7 being defined as the “upbeat” and beats 2, 4, 6, 8 being “offbeats.” Salsa Casino is usually started on beat 1 (on 1). But unlike other salsa dance styles that are more demanding, Casino is also danced on beat 2, offbeat (like in Cuban son between beat 1 and 2) or even “crossbeat” (on beat 5). Salsa Casino steps are marked on counts 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7. Beat 4 and 8, although usually not mentioned, are taken into account by marking the “Cuban tap” (Other salsa styles do not perform this tap).

Basic Steps:

The basic steps for both individuals and couples are the “paseo” and the “guapea”. The most basic turns for the “paseo” step are the “sácala” or “exhíbela” and the “Paseo por Atrás”. For the “guapea” the most basic turns are the single turn (either Moño or dedo, or clockwise turn, etc.), the “enchufe”, the “sombrero” (previously known as Cagua) and the “Vacila”. The transition step between the paseos and guapeas is known as “Dile que No”.

Intermediate and Advanced Steps:

There are a great variety of intermediate and advanced steps, as broad as the creativity of the dancers, but almost all of these steps are based on various standard combinations such as the “Sombrero”, the “Vacila”, the “Setenta”, or the “A Bayamo”. In a modern way, combinations for a couple are borrowed from other dance styles and individual steps borrowed from other Cuban dance styles such as the Mambo, the Cha Cha Chá, the Rumba (the Yambú, the Guaguancó and the Columbia), the conga and Afro-Cuban or Yoruba dances.

Rueda de Casino

In the 1950s, a team dance called Rueda de Casino was developed from the Casino style in Havana, Cuba. This style consists of several dancers forming a circle and doing Cuban Salsa steps under the lead of one dancer.

Music for Cuban Salsa dancing:

Although Cuban Salsa can be danced to any Salsa music, purist Cuban Salsa dancers prefer Cuban music for dancing. Cuban music is complex and depending on the type of key used, the instruments, the speed or the number of singers, it can be classified into genres as diverse as Son, Changüí, Nengón, Songo, Charanga, the popular Timba or more recently Cubatón (Salsa and Reggaeton).
Among the most prominent Cuban orchestras are Juan Formell y Los Van Van, Alexander Abreu y Havana D’ Primera, Elito Revé Jr. y su Charangón, David Calzado y La Charanga Habanera, Leoni Torres, El Niño y La Verdad, La Orquesta Femenil Anacaona, Manolito Simonet y su Trabuco, Adalberto Álvarez y su Son, Paulito FG y la Corte, Dayron y El Boom, Maikel Blanco y su Salsamayor, Pupy y los que Son Son, Maraca y Otra Visión, or Timbalive among many others.

Congresses and Massive Events.

Although Cuban salsa dance lovers have not created a marketing similar to that which the Americans have done around On1 and On2 Salsa, there are some events that are worth mentioning due to their frequency and magnitude:

Baila en Cuba: World Casino Salsa Congress held the last week of November in Havana, Cuba. http://www.bailaencuba.soycubano.com/

Cubame Mucho: Franchise of Cuban Salsa Congresses held throughout the year in the main European cities. http://cubamemucho.com/

Cuba baila en México: National Salsa Congress usually held on a weekend in March or April in Mexico City.
http://www.salsaclases.com/

SBK Vallarta: The SBK Congress in Puerto Vallarta is celebrated between March and April and includes plenty of Cuban Salsa and Rueda de Casino workshops among other latin dances.
https://vallartasbk.com/

Bibliography

• Balbuena, Bárbara, Casino and Salsa in Cuba, Colección Cinquillo, Ed José Martí, Cuba 2007.
• “Salsa (dance)”, Wikipedia. Revised on the 26th of April 2010 at
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salsa_(dance)/