Rueda Structures and Concepts
[toc]
Creative Casineros began to make up novel approaches to dancing Rueda after the dance had been around for a number of years. Below, some of these imaginative approaches are described. And of course, there is much more on this wild and fascinating subject in the Salsa Dancing and Rueda de Casino Guidebook.
1. Pa’Fuera: Circle With Partner Exchanges Going Clockwise
Early on, the flow of leaders moving to a new partner was altered so it went clockwise instead of the traditional counter-clockwise direction. This innovation is referred to as dancing “pa’fuera” or an “inverted circle.” The Danceintime choreography below includes a short segment of such an circle (watch 3:00 to 3:20). Each couple dances as though they are doing moves with their center outside of the circle that the dancers are actually formed around! Is your mind blown yet?!
In this video, we got into the inverted circle by the call “Enchufla Flip.” For that step, leaders and follower switch sides on beats 1 2 3 of Enchufla. Then on beats 5 6 7, leaders turn left to face their partner and followers step in place doing the basic.
After that, we did Enchufla Bikini. However, this move is normally a Dame Dos, which is tough in an inverted circle (especially one with just 3 couples). That is because leaders have to move further than is needed in a normal circle because of the circle’s arc. So we ended the move with Dame rather than Dame Dos. Next, we performed Vacilence los Dos again, in the “inverted” position. Then we did Enchufla Flip again to return to the standard circle formation.
2. TOCADOF: A Different Feeling—Short & Snappy Moves
During the 2010s, creative dancers developed many new structures for dancing Rueda de Casino, featuring new approaches or concepts. To those who have danced Rueda for years, some of these alterations feel mind-blowing.
One popular alteration which is more conceptual than structural, is called TOCADOF. This stands for “Transition Oriented Calling and Development of Figures.” The circular shape for the dance remains intact, and so does the direction of partner exchanges. But the way moves are called is different. The video below shows how this is done—by putting more emphasis on short calls with a lot of movement around the circle rather than long moves with the same partner.
3. Avenida: A True Structural Change
An example of a new Rueda Structure is “Avenida” which lines up two rows of Casino dancers. Then moves are done by either a smaller subset of those dancers, or by the entire two rows dancing together. A special case of Avenida is when there are exactly 8 dancers (4 couples). The caller must designate for each call if the entire circle is doing the move together, or if the dancers are doing the move in their smaller subgroups. Avenida with 4 couples is illustrated in this video:
4. Abaco: Solo Moves for Unpartnered Dancers Inside the Circle
Abaco is a very different kind of structure. It’s not done as much as the others, but I used it during the pandemic quite a bit. In the Abaco structure, some dancers form couples and dance in a standard Rueda circle. But inside that circle, there are dancers who are doing moves solo.
This was developed so that if there were more followers than leaders, the excess of followers didn’t need to wait for a partner to do moves. It keeps everyone dancing even when the lead/follow ratio is not even. The dancers inside the circle do a specific version of the move that was developed by the folks who created the structure. This video shows how a number of Rueda de Casino moves are adapted so they can be done solo, inside the circle.
It’s interesting that this was developed prior to the world-wide pandemic. Nonetheless, it was quite useful for people who wanted to dance Rueda in some form during the pandemic while it was considered unsafe for partners to dance in close proximity.
Dancers could study the moves which are related but not identical to the way the move is done in a standard Rueda. It wasn’t really necessary to have any couples in the circle surrounding the solo dancers. So that could be optional. In this video, I was teaching some Abaco moves to students on zoom, for safety during the early pandemic.
5. So Much More…
The examples of structures explained here barely scratch the surface of these fabulous and creative ways to dance Rueda de Casino. Below, a few others are listed, with a short description of their key features.
a. Mixta: This has to be done by an even number of couples, and a minimum of four. Half of the couples in the circle do one thing, and the other half does something else. Couples count off initially so the first, third, fifth, etc., couples do the same thing, and the second, fourth, sixth, etc., do something else. One group ends up dancing pa’fuera, and the other dances in the conventional Rueda position. Dancers who are pa’fuera move to another dancer who is pa’fuera in this structure, skipping over a couple between them that is moving in the conventional direction.
b. Llanta: This must also be done with an even number of couples, and a minimum of four. Every other couple is designated to move to an inner circle, concentric with the outer circle. But the inner circle and outer circle dancers have to line up so that they can create a small Rueda circle of two couples. In addition, each couple is part of a (generally) larger circle —namely the inner circle which is pa’fuera and the outer circle which moves in the traditional way. Then callers designate which circle is to do each move they call.
c. Enchufla Eco and Chequendengue: These structures have every other couple dancing in alternate rhythms. Half of the group is 8 beats ahead of the other half in Enchufla Eco, and only 4 beats ahead of the other group in Chequendengue.
d. Switch: This structure is done with very frequent switching of leads and follows. A great number of moves were developed that have the effect of switching the leader and followers. Before learning how these switche moves, dancers have to be very proficient at both leading and following. It’s fast and dynamic. It winds up being hard to remember every second which role a dancer is playing!
6. Blending Structures
A very exciting way to use these novel concepts and structures is to superimpose them on one another. My colleague Chae Reid taught a workshop in which she blended several alterations to the standard dance—all done simultaneously. She had dancers change roles (lead/follow), partners, and orientation! Phew! I thought her workshop was an incredible feat of creativity!
7. And Counting!
New approaches to Rueda de Casino continue to be developed. This creative flexibility of this dance is one of the things I love about it!!
For More Reading:
The structures listed here are all explained in detail in the Salsa Dancing & Rueda de Casino Guidebookfor those interested in more on this!