4. History of ‘Salsa Rueda’ and what is
‘Salsa Rueda’
History of ‘Salsa Rueda’
In order to speak of the antecedents of the Rueda de Casino it is necessary to go back to the reign of Luis XIV in France where the first ballets appeared. As of that moment they instituted “ballets de corte”. In order to have a good title it was necessary to know certain choreographies that were performed in the celebrations of the nobility. Clear examples: the Minuet and the Contradanzas.
In the XVIII century, with the presence of French fleets in the bay of Havana, the arrival of emigrants of Louisiana, New Orleans and fundamentally the French emigration coming from Haiti with the 1791 revolution produced the appearance in Cuba of the French Contradanzas and derived from this the Cuban Contradanza arises. The court of Luis XIV, the Creole aristocracy, Spanish and including the town interpreted the dance with pre-planned figures that all had to know and directed by a bastonero.
There have been contradiction between the informants of the place where casino fist appeared. Some say that it first appeared in the Spanish Casino, Grammar school of Havana, the Patricio Lumumba and others say in the Sport Casino; what is true is that it expanded throughout the capital.
Rueda de Casino takes its name from the club, ‘El Casino Deportivo’, where it originated. In the 1950s many great dancers gathered there for friendly competitions. They would practice all week to invent new moves and go to the club to show them off. Sooner or later they began to dance the moves together. In order to keep a distinction between one move and another, they began naming them and Rueda de Casino was born.
As a result of the Castro regime, many Cubans immigrated to the US, a large portion of which to the Miami area. With them they took their culture including various foods, music and dancing. Rueda de Casino began to slowly make its way into the Miami salsa community and in the late 1980s and early 1990s it experienced an enormous explosion of popularity. There it has been so embraced, that one is hard-pressed to find a nightclub in which Casino or Rueda is not danced.
Rueda de Casino became a national phenomenon after Rosendo, choreographer and dancer of the “Ballet de la Televisi∆ín Cubana”, presented it in the televising program Para Bailar in 1980.
This festive dance, which was brought to Miami by Cuban immigrants, took hold there in the l970s and l980s. From Miami, it spread first to major U.S. metropolitan centers with large Hispanic populations and eventually to other cities as well. The movie “Dance with Me” has a segment of rueda dancing which helped poplularize the dance in this country.
Salsa Casino has evolved in Miami to such an extent that a new and distinctly different style has emerged. Miami style.
What is ‘Salsa Rueda’?
“Rueda” means wheel or circle. It is a type of salsa dancing done by a group in a circle, with partners being passed around.
This wildly popular dance was done everywhere in Cuba—in the streets, in parking lots, in clubs, in homes.
The moves to this dance are numerous and can be very complex. The dance is done by two or more couples who do the moves in synchrony. A member of the circle calls the moves for everyone to execute.
Each move has a name and most have hand signals since it is hard to hear in noisy nightclubs. Moves can be called in quick succession, and along with frequent partner exchanges, this creates a very dynamic and exciting atmosphere for everyone involved.
The group nature of the dance is unique and makes it quite social. A group consciousness develops to make the rueda work well—with everyone watching the leader for the calls. Dancers have to open up their sphere of awareness far beyond what is necessary for ordinary partner dancing.
Whether you are dancing or watching, it is thrilling when a rueda circle works well and flows smoothly!! Rueda can be done to any salsa music. It is best danced to music with a driving beat and no rhythm breaks. (Latin music often changes rhythm throughout one song, unlike American music.)
The timing of the dance is “quick, quick, slow”—-exactly the same as salsa. The “slow” beat is twice as long as the “quicks.” Hence there are 4 beats to a measure and the dancer steps on 3 of them. Note that salsa dancers can step on beats 1, 2 and 3 or on beats 2, 3, and 4.
The former pattern is called “dancing on 1” and the latter is called “dancing on 2,” assuming that the first step is the rock step. Most Cubans dance on two, and some American dancers prefer the more relaxed feeling that dancing on two creates. However, some dancers prefer to dance on one since that is more consistent with an American approach to music, and the first beat is easier to find. Dancing on two is a little more musically difficult. Rueda in this country is generally danced on one. To the reader, this difference–which beat the dance pattern starts on—may seem like a small matter. But to serious “on 1” or “on 2” dancers, it is the stuff of endless discussion and debate!