Some advice from Yanek Revilla - One of the World's Best Cuban Dancers

I do quite a bit of reading and when I came across this article I thought that it was one of those that I should share.  I think that everyone who does Cuban salsa and/or rueda will get something out of reading the article at http://planettimba.com/entertainment/yanek-revilla-worlds-most-cuban-dancer/

I copied some points from it below in case you just wish to get some of the highlights.

Yanek says" I think there are basic rules for being a good dancer. I call them “The 5 Golden Rules” in salsa cubana – doesn’t matter what level you are, if something doesn’t work it’s always [because you are] breaking one of the following rules:
 
1.Never grab the hands, just a touch which I call full contact and always re-accommodate the hands before any change with the arms, in order to be more comfortable, faster and avoid injuries.
 
2. Turning around each other clockwise. The Cuban combinations are created to be danced in [a] circle and it makes [dancing] easier.
 
3. Distance. Dancing too far away from the partner is one of the biggest problems (in my European experience) due to cultural taboos, so the dance is too strong with a lot of tension in the arms.
 
4. The timing with the arms. All the moves with the arms end in 3 and 7 – defining this [detail will make] the dance be more fluid and clear. 70 (setenta) is the classic example for this rule.
 
5. Naturalness. Every unnatural or uncomfortable move must be fixed, natural small steps, not jumping. It’s more comfortable to dance the same way we walk.

Followers, he had the following suggestions: "[Learn to] improvise before and during “dile que no”, after “vacílala” and during the figures."

Yanek compared salsa casino with “Bruce Lee’s Jet Kune Do. You have basic rules but then you adapt your dance to your possibilities, body work and feelings – that’s why all the people look different even if they all dance Cuban style. It’s freer because there is no choreography in the teaching process. You have to lead and improvise-doesn’t matter who you dance with. I think salsa cubana is very free and different from the other styles.”

What Yanek thinks about rueda choreography: "There is a problem with Rueda nowadays, the choreographers are including moves for couple dance into the Rueda and it’s a huge mistake. They stay too long with the same partner, and turn the choreography less dynamic. Besides that they create new long moves in which they change partners only once and I think that in a good figure you change at least twice. Good rueda choreography should include (in my opinion):
1. A figure in which you do lots of changes
2. A figure in which you mix salsa with other rhythms (Rumba, Afro or other traditional Cuban dances)
3. A figure with the hands joined
4. And a figure with lots of changes of directions or formations"

A Teaching Tuesday or a Salsa Tuesday?

Every Tuesday I co-teach salsa/rueda classes at the Oasis dance club, in Ithaca, NY.  This week it went really well.  For the salsa class I started out with a new person who showed up. Nancy, my co-teacher, came later around the same time as a couple who usually show up late, and so she worked with them.  After that was the intermediate rueda class where people were kept on task and the class moved along at a good pace. As usual I called and we had fun just doing rueda.  I also got the class to take turns calling two moves each for a song or two. We reviewed part of the setenta family and made their execution a little cleaner: setenta, setenta cubano, setenta, con alma, and setenta por abajo.   This time I showed one guy, who was ahead of the rest, setenta moderno, and at the end of class Nancy worked with another who is obsessed with ponle sabor.

The Latin night that followed, however, was the polar opposite.  The typical Latin night with the same old tired music being played. This time it was saved by the people who showed up.  There were a couple people whom I hadn't seen in months - one who remembered I taught her bachata - plus a new Architecture professor with her friend.  It was a friend's birthday, and she really loved the dance that I did with her

So, was it a teaching or a salsa Tuesday, or a bit of both?  Well, let's see.  The lessons were good, the socializing was great...the music par for the course, tasting like week old food. A teaching Tuesday, for sure.  Unless the music is inspirational it never is a salsa Tuesday.
 

Rueda combinations that work

One can call a lot of moves in rueda but there are certain combinations that work well. When talking of working well I mean in terms of the feeling that people get when doing the sequence of moves. They fit together. This only comes through trial or error, or from getting these from someone else. Blending moves is one way this can be achieved (see my post on January 9 on keeping the flow in casino) , or calling a complicated combination such as bebe. However, this does not need to be the case as a good caller can use simple moves sequenced together in the right combination can achieve the same effect.

Combos that work well when called:
1. adios - dame arriba, another almost as good variation is enchufe arriba-dame
2. hecho/hecho des hecho /dedo /evelyn - puente or por atras/paseala - vacilala/vacilala dame una/ siete con coca cola / siete moderno
3. treinti treis - ocho - para adelante, from guapea one can call cero and then start combo after that
4.cadaneta - cubanito (is a blended combo)
5.enchufe y no llegas - abajo - exhibela - dile que no/dame

Choosing a song to demo casino rueda

So what goes into a song choice:

1. Does it appeal to dancers/choreographer/audience?

2. What are the dynamics of song like and what are we looking for?
- tempo variations and average tempo?
- rhythms played - salsa/reggaeton/merengue/son montuno, guajira, charanga, timba....
- breaks in the song, what is the intro like, the ending
- are there natural places in the song where we can change orientation and/or types of moves being done
- does the song match the level of the dancers - eg Agua by the group Los Van Van is a high energy fast paced song without much variation in tempo. It requires people who can match that energy, and not everyone can do so.

3. Are the lyrics relevant?

I spent a lot of time on this recently and finally tonight our group - Ithakeros - danced to several song suggestions and chose Los Compeones de la Salsa by Willy Chirino.

Teaching Dance - Ballroom frame and the Rueda Basic

I always say that you really don't know it until you can teach someone how to do it. There is learning that can only come from teaching. In the past couple months I've started helping teach ballroom and rueda and it has been a great experience.

In ballroom it is an introductory survey class of over 50 students with 5 dances - waltz,foxtrot,tango, rumba and cha cha - covered in 10/12 weeks. With the emphasis on fun it is interesting to see how "frame" is learned. There is no substitute to feeling what a right and wrong frame is and the best way to do so is working with someone who knows that feeling. So, every time I get a chance to work with anyone I sneak in "let's look at frame".

In casino rueda there are many variations on the basic. The one that is safest to teach is where the leader places his palm flat against the followers palm on the second half of the basic. If the correct handhold is used where the leader pulls and then pushes the follower, so his right hand is clasping her palm it is easy for the lady to get her hand hurt. Sometimes people say oh rueda looks/feels boring. There is a reason why. A lot of people aren't being taught the elements that make it a really dynamic breathing (in/out open/close) circle. And for good reason. Learning that correct handhold and moving well takes time.

In all dance styles most students desire to keep on learning move after move. It is few who both realize the important basic/core elements and do the work to get those right.