A class barbara is teaching, in a dance studio with large mirrors — [banner 2-1]

The notes below bring together move descriptions, instructional videos, and practical advice from years of teaching Rueda de Casino. Use them to review a move after class, refine your technique, and avoid common pitfalls. They supplement rather than replace learning with a teacher.

These are just a selection of moves at each “level”—beginners to advanced. For hundreds more moves and companion videos, see my Salsa Dancing & Rueda de Casino Guidebook for Beginner to Advanced Dancers, which also covers L.A.-style Salsa.

A few of the moves below don’t have a video as they can be well explained without one. On the other hand, the complex moves all have a video and watching that is essential.

Note that the dance levels listed in the article below are approximate. Some moves are physically challenging but easy to remember; others are simple to execute but harder to keep straight. In addition, different groups typically execute moves a little differently depending on what style they follow. The descriptions here generally reflect the Miami-style. Also note that “leader” and “follower” are intended to describe dance roles, not gender. These days, many dancers ultimately learn both roles which makes them especially versatile dancers.

Some of the moves past the beginner level start with a tap on beat 8 in Miami style. But the tap is not essential; you can omit the tap without changing the foot you step on for beat 1. But if you do tap on beat 8, keep the knee bent, place little weight on the tapping foot, and transfer your full weight onto that same foot on beat 1. A tap can help you face the center and prepare for a move, without throwing off your timing. The beats to step on with full weight are 1, 2, 3 and 5, 6, 7 whether you tap or not.

Finally, as you go through moves from basic to complex, let this be your guiding principle and inspiration: “It’s hard till it’s easy.” In other words, moves that look hard at first, become easy with enough practice….That is my promise to all dance students; trust me on this!

You can find more instructional videos on another page on this site.

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Beginner 1 Moves

Guapea — Basic Step

Guapea at 2:00 to 4:13
Dame at 4:14

Guapea is the foundational Rueda step, and there are several ways to dance it. In the version I teach, couples stand along the circle with leader’s right shoulder and follower’s left shoulder toward the center. The leader’s left hand holds the follower’s right.

On beats 1, 2, 3, dancers do a small back rock. This means the leader’s left foot and the follower’s right foot move back, “away” from their partner. On beats 5, 6, 7, partners do a forward rock with the other foot. Leaders also angle slightly to the right on their forward rock to keep the partners’ feet from colliding. On beat 5, the leader’s right hand and follower’s left hand lightly press against each other and then release.

Know that there are a number of ways to do the basic step. I believe this one is the simplest but you’ll see all kinds of variations on this—which is fine! Watch the video to see this in action.

Dame (“Dame Una”)

To do a Dame, leaders travel counterclockwise along the circle circumference, moving to the next follower. They come to the follower’s left side and do a Dile Que No which moves the follower in front of the leader and to the leader’s left side.

After Dame is called on beat 1, leaders turn right to face the follower behind them on the next beats 5, 6, 7. During those beats, followers turn left to face the center. On the next 1, 2, 3, leaders travel to the left side of their new partner. Meanwhile, followers make a small back rock or step slightly toward the center. A Cross Body Lead follows on 5, 6, 7—when followers move to the left side of the new leader, going in front of that leader. The leader moves slightly to the right on beats 5 6 7 to shorten the follower’s path.

Tip: Leaders should not push the follower throughout beats 5 6 7 even though they stay in contact. The lead is a gentle push on beat 5, and possibly a little bit on beat 6. The follower then has momentum move to the leader’s left side without being pushed through the entire path. Leads that are clear but gentle are generally preferred.

Dile Que No (“DQN”)

This is the 8-beat ending used in many moves, and it’s very closely related to Dame. The follower’s action is identical to what followers do in a Dame. Leaders do a forward rock angled slightly toward their follower, stepping left right left on beats 1 2 3 respectively. They move slightly toward the right as followers come to their left side on beats 5 6 7, just as they do in Dame. This shortens the follower’s path and makes the step smoother. At the end of the Dame, partners are in Guapea position.

The only difference between Dame and Dile Que No is that in Dame, the leader is farther away from the follower and has to move counter-clockwise around the circle to get to the follower and dance with them. That isn’t necessary in DQN since they are already next to each other.

(These 8 beats are isolated from a move they are in if you watch just from 1:51 to 1:55 in this video: youtu.be/fCDkrIV0ccw. That enables you to see exactly what those six steps—which are done in 8 beats— look like.)

Fly / Two Flies / High Five / High Ten / Besito

Fly explanation at 7:11
Fly example at 8:08
Besitos example 8:36
High 10 example 15:02 (followed by a Besitos example)

These playful calls help dancers practice rhythm. Leaders turn right, and followers turn left to face the dancer behind them. On beat 1, do the named action: clap once on beat 1 for Fly; clap on beats 1 and 2 for Two Flies; do a High Five or two-handed High Ten with the dancer you face after turning; or offer an air kiss to that person for Besito. Turn back toward your partner and resume Guapea on beat 5.

Tip: You can simply turn without fully transferring weight. For beginners, though, stepping on the familiar six beats (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7) reinforces the rhythm and makes it easier to resume Guapea on the correct foot.

Suena / Bulla / Bulla Doble / Suena y Bulla

These “rhythm calls” can be added to Guapea. Suena means a stomp on beat 5; Bulla means a shout on 5. Bulla Doble means a shout on both beats 5 and 6; and Suena y Bulla combines a stomp and a shout on 5. They bring energy and a bit of humor to the circle.

Foto at 13:44

Foto / Selfie

These moves involve holding a pose for eight beats, from beat 1 to beat 8. In Selfie, dancers pose with one dancer holding an imaginary camera pointed toward themselves.

I teach Foto with all dancers can take any pose they want. Some teachers have the leaders pretend to snap a picture of their partner while the followers take a cute pose. Either way, this move is fun to do and gets dancers smiling!

Enchufla at 9:55

Enchufla / Enchufla Doble

These moves are an essential building block for many other patterns. Enchufla starts with 4 beats in which follows turn left and leads turn right while they switch places. Then the leaders start moving toward a Dame to the next partner and followers turn to face the center and move slightly back away from the center. The last 8 beats are a Dame.

Pelota con Dos / Pelota con Cuatro

For Pelota con Dos, do 8 beats of Enchufla, and then “stomp, stomp, clap, clap, on beats 1, 3, 5, 7 respectively. End the move with a Dame. For Pelota con Cuatro, after the Enchufla do 4 stomps on beat 1, 3, 5, 7. After that, clap on beats 1, 3, 5, 7 respectively, followed by the Dame.
In both of these moves, dancers can also do a stomp when they are clapping if they wish.

Fun Alternative: Enchufla con Mambo, also explained in the video is similar. That has four “tap step” sequences, one per beat for 8 beats total, before doing the Dame.

Pelota Loca at 6:59

Pelota Loca / Pelota con Clave

Pelota Loca begins with 8 beats of Enchufla, then has an eight-beat stomp-and-clap pattern which is: stomp, clap, stomp, clap, stomp, clap, clap, clap on beats 1 to 8 respectively. It ends with a Dame.

You may notice that in Pelota Loca, dancers are on the “wrong foot” to start the Dame that completes the move. This is because there are only 3 stomps/steps, and normally dancers take 6 steps every 8 beats. Since 3 is an odd number and 6 is even, you wind up on the “wrong” foot. But to do the move, dancers just make an exception and step on the same foot twice in that move. (Or they can tap instead of stomping on the last stomp.)

Pelota con Clave starts with 8 beats of Enchufla. Then it has 8 beats of claps in the 3–2 clave rhythm. Dancers just clap (no stomps or steps) on beat 1, the “and” of 2, and then beats 4, 6 and 7. The move ends with Dame.

Adios at 4:15

Adios / Adios Doble

Adios begins with an embrace on beat 3 and a small turn to the right on beats 5 6 7. The leader then releases the follower’s arm overhead and does a Dame, moving to the next partner.

Adios Doble is the same but partners turn for 12 beats instead of 4. This enables them to do one additional full turn before the Dame.

Several partner positions work during the turn(s). I like a comfortable ballroom-style dance position. Other groups have partners dance more offset from each other— nearly hip to hip without facing each other as much. Either approach is fine.

Tip: The leader can do a hook step (right foot “hooks” behind and to the immediate left of the left foot) on beat 5 during the turn(s). This makes the turn(s) tight and looks sharp.

Beginner 2 Moves

Pa’ Ti Pa’ Mi

Three consecutive Enchuflas with the same partner. The first Enchufla goes over the follower’s head. The second is over the leader and the third is over the follower.

Pa’ Ti Pa’ Mi at 0:54
Adios con la Hermana at 1:58

This isn’t a difficult move but it’s lovely to watch—an excellent choice for a demonstration or performance.

Tip: In this move, the turns need to be done pretty quickly (completed in one or two beats) so partners are in position for the next Enchufla turn on time. They should be facing each other before each Enchufla turn begins.

Adios con la Hermana

This move begins like Adios and continues with two Enchuflas. The remainder of the move is exactly the same as Pa’ Ti Pa’ Mi after the initial Enchufla. So there is an Enchufla is over the leader’s head and then one over the follower’s head. The step ends with Dile Que No.

Dame Dos at 13:35 to 13:45

Dame Dos / Dame Tres

In Dame Dos leaders move to a new partner by skipping one follower and going to the follower after that. For Dame Tres, the leader skips two followers and picks up the third. The timing is essentially that of Dame, but the leader travels farther.

Tip: We usually encourage small steps, but this is an exception. Leaders must cover enough ground to arrive comfortably beside the new follower, facing the center, by beat 4 of the Dile Que No.

Dame Dos con Uno / Dame Dos con Dos

This is a Dame Dos with one clap (“con Uno”) or two claps (“con Dos”). Different circles place the claps differently. Some do the single clap on beat 7, while other groups clap on 1. The two claps are done either on beats 7 and 8 or on beats 1 and 2.

Dame Arriba at 2:38
Kentucky at 3:40

Dame Arriba

This is done like Dame, except the leader travels clockwise (“upstream”) rather than counterclockwise.

Tip: The leader must get around to the follower’s left side by beat 3, so partners can complete a Dile Que No in the usual way.

Kentucky

Kentucky is a move that takes partners into a cuddle-position with footwork in the first 12 beats that is similar to Enchúfala Doble. However, the leader’s arms go over the follower’s head—their left hand on the first beats 1 2 3 and their right hand on the second beats 1 2 3.

Leaders do a ronde turn on the second beats 5 6 7. A ronde is a “tight” right turn, enabling the leader to stay close to the follower. Only the leader’s left arm goes overhead during the ronde; the right arm stays planted on the leader’s left shoulder. The turn ends with leaders facing the center. Then the move ends with DQN.

Tip: Leaders should keep their right hand on their own shoulder while their left arm goes overhead when they do the ronde. Raising both arms loses the crisp look of the move, but for most people, isolating the arm muscles so that the arms move very differently takes some practice. Also, leaders need to turn fully to face the center and finish on the circle, not behind its circumference, before doing the Dile Que No.

Dame con las Manos at 052-058

Dame con las Manos

This is a versatile group move built around repeated Cross Body Leads. Followers rock back and cross in front of the leader on their left, while leaders rock forward and guide the followers into their Cross Body Lead action. Dancers can move into many different steps after they begin doing Dame con las Manos.

Fun Addition: If you watch the performance video showing Dame con las Manos, you see the dancers starting to do some turns. First the followers turn after “Tranca” is called. They turn left into the center and then turn back to the circumference. Then the leaders start turning, and they also turn left into the circle, as the followers are turning out of the circle. The call for this is usually “Hombres” or “Papis.” This has a sharp look, with leads and follows alternating a turn into the center.

Fun Alternative: Here is a cool way to use Dame con las Manos….Try calling that move and then for the rest of the song, make it the basic step, instead of Guapea! In other words, any time a move is finished, dancers default to resuming Dame con las Manos. The caller has to think fast and call moves without too many of Dame con las Manos steps in a row, or followers might get dizzy. It’s a novel and fun way to dance Rueda. The trick is to call a move on the last beat 1 in any step. That means the dancers go right into the next move they do without a basic in between.

Festival de Enchufla at 3:05

Festival de Enchufla / Festival de Adios

Festival de Enchufla is three Enchuflas in succession, each with a different partner and no Guapea between them. Festival de Adios is three Adios moves in succession, also with no Guapea between them.

Dancers often clap to count the number of times they have done the move. So they clap while moving to the next partner once after the first Enchufla, twice after the second Enchufla, and 3 times after the third. So after three claps and completion of the Dame, the move is over. It’s easy for someone in the circle to miscount if no one is clapping to keep track!

Enchufla con Exhibe at 8:55

Enchufla con Exhibe / Exhibe Doble

Enchufla con Exhibe starts with 8 beats of Enchufla. Then dancers do an Exhibe which can be done a variety of ways. I teach leaders to face the followers and lead them to do a small backrock moving away from the center of the circle on 1 2 3. Then leaders move them toward the circle with a turn on 5 6 7. Followers end back on the circumference by beat 8. After the Exhibe, there is a DQN to end the move.

To do Enchufla con Exhibe Doble the only difference is that dancers repeat the Exhibe action a second time.

Improver Moves

Siete at 17:41 to 18:22
Siete con Coca Cola at 18:23 to 18:59
Siete Moderno at 19:00 to 19:38

Siete

The leader turns the follower to the right and then reverses the turn so the partners face each other.

Tip: For dancers learning Siete, I recommend a modest 180-degree inward turn—from facing into the circle to facing out. Rolling in farther makes it harder to unwind in time. Followers should keep their hands accessible around mid-chest height; this is particularly useful in Siete variations with fast hand changes.

Siete con Coca Cola

Begin with Siete and add a Coca Cola-style turn. The rotation is generally shorter than a full Coca Cola, making it a good introduction to that action.

Siete Moderno

Begin with Siete, change hands, and have both partners turn left to face the center before doing DQN and returning to Guapea position.

Tip: Followers should offer an easy-to-find hand during the quick switch. This is a useful habit in many Rueda moves, not just Siete Moderno.

Sombrero / Vacila

Sombrero uses a crossed two-hand hold: leader’s right to follower’s right, and left to left, with the leader’s right hand above the left. The follower makes two traveling right turns across the leader’s front, moving to the leader’s right side. The leader shifts slightly left to shorten the route. Keep the hands connected, bring the arms overhead, release, and finish with Dile Que No.

Sombrero at 6:25
Vacila at 8:05
El Uno / El Dos / Uno y Dos at 0:26

Vacila is identical to Sombrero, except the partners release hands after the leader initiates the follower’s turn.

Tip: Followers should walk through theses turns, traveling toward the leader’s right side, rather than spinning in one spot. Traveling turns are characteristic of Casino dancing; stationary spins are more associated with L.A. and New York Salsa patterns.

Fun Alternative: Sombrero can be led with just one-hand—the leader’s right hand connected to follower’s right. This is called “Medio Sombrero.”

El Uno / El Dos / Uno y Dos

Uno y Dos performance example (0:04–0:19)

These are moves that have one partner in front of the other, both facing the center, while they rock from side to side. When leads right right, follows rock left and vice versa. In El Uno, the follower is in front of the leader. After several rocks, when the follower is on the leader’s right side, a DQN ends the move.

In El Dos, the leader is in front. To end that move, when the follower is on the leader’s left side, leaders bring them in front and to their right side with two turns before ending the move with a DQN. Uno y Dos combines these moves. It begins with Uno and then moves into El Dos.

Note that the word Uno is the name of a step; but it also appears as part of the name in the move called “Dame Dos con Uno.” In this longer step name, the “uno” just signifies that dancers clap one time.

Vacílense los Dos

The follower does Vacila and the leader turns as well as the follower. Leaders may turn right with the follower or left against the follower’s direction, and may make one or two turns. When the leader turns left, it makes use of the momentum from leading the follower’s turn. I like that as it looks very natural, but either direction is fine. And one or two turns is also fine— there is room for personal style here.

Dedo / Montaña

Dedo starts with a one-hand crossed hold. The follower travels to the leader’s right in a Sombrero-like pattern; Enchufla-style actions follow, and the move ends with Dile Que No.

Montaña is similar to Dedo, but use a two-hand crossed hold throughout, ending with a Sombrero-like overhead arm position.

Dedo at 15:13 to 16:22
Montaña at 16:24
Setenta at 8:57 to 10:57

Fun Alternative: Combine Dedo and Montaña without a basic step between them. Begin with a one-handed cross-hold and transition to two hands for Montaña. The footwork is done identically twice in a row but the handhold change makes the move look and feel relatively different the second time.

Setenta

Setenta starts with a two-handed “straight” handhold (leader’s left to follower’s right and leader’s right to follower’s left). Followers do a right turn the couple walks around each other. By beat 7, leaders back to the center and followers face the center. On the second beats 1 2 3, leaders lead an open break (both partners back rock) and continue moving around the follower while bringing their left arm over the follower’s head. On the next 5 6 7, leaders drape their right hand over their own head and position followers on their right side. Partners are then both facing the center. The move ends with DQN.

There is longer version of this move called Setenta Cubana, which has an ending segment that is similar to Pa Ti Pa Mi.

Candado at 10:56

Candado

Start with a two-hand Enchufla and a Kentucky-like turn. Partners then walk clockwise around the circle with their hands connected near the leader’s shoulders. On Arriba, reverse the walking direction; on Dile Que No, finish the figure.

Tip: After the Kentucky-like turn, some dancers stomp so loudly they can no longer hear the music clearly. That often leads to rushing or dragging the beat. Keep the steps light and your ears on the music.

Festival de Enchufla New York

This move is a continuous sequence of moves with no Guapea between them. The moves are: Enchufla, Enchufla Doble, and a modified Pa’ Ti Pa’ Mi, with a Dame at the end. This step name was chosen because I learned the move from a New York Rueda group.

Treinta y Tres at 8:03 to 8:21

Enchufla al Medio con Dos with Treinta y Tres (“33”)

This is a lively group move that begins with Enchufla and continues with alternating rocks toward and then away from the center. Leaders rock toward the center on 1 2 3 while followers rock away from the center on those beats. On 5 6 7, they do the opposite. From this formation, the group can do a number of figures, and Treinta y Tres is a popular one.

In Treinta y Tres, leaders move in front and to the right of the follower on their right on beats 1 2 3. Then followers move in front and to the left of the leader on their left on beats 5 6 7. These movements are repeated 3 times. The move ends with leaders doing Dame to pick up the follower on their right.

Fun Alternative: The move 22 has the action of 33 repeated twice instead of three times, so it lasts for 16 beats. The move 11 has this action done just once, so it only lasts for 8 beats!

Intermediate Moves

At this level of complexity, it’s essential to watch the videos to fully understand the sequence of actions in each move.

Balsero

The step starts with a tap and a crossed handhold with both hands. The follower travels all the way around the leader, then does a full Sombrero, which ends with Dile Que No.

Balsero at 12:33 to 14:22
Beso at 10:58 to 12:30
Abanico at 19:40 to 20:53
Sombrero de Manny at 20:54 to 22:34

Beso

Beso is similar to Balsero, and gets its name from an “air kiss” that is featured in the move. It ends with Dile Que No.

Abanico

This move starts like Sombrero, then followers do a right turn as the leader travels past and in front of the follower to move into Guapea position. There is no DQN at the end.

It’s notable that dancers almost universally have an “unfinished” feeling at the end of the step. Some groups add an Enchufla or another step at the end to avoid that.

Sombrero de Manny

This step starts with eight beats of Sombrero. The leader gestures to “ask for” the follower’s hand by reaching the leader’s right hand forward, under the follower’s arm. The follower then takes that hand and turns right, while moving all the way around the leader’s body. The move ends when the follower returns to Guapea position.

Sombrero Doble

This is a slightly longer enrichment of the move, Sombrero. It starts with the first 8 beats of Sombrero. On the second beats 1 2 3, arms stay connected and the leader rocks forward while removing arms from behind the head of each partner. On the second beats 5 6 7, the follower turns left while doing a Cross Body Lead, moving to the leader’s left side. Partners tap on the second beat 7.

They do a back-to-back turn on the third beats 1 2 3 with the follower turning right and the leader turning left. (The leader can either stay connected with both hands during the turn or release the leader’s left hand and lead only with the right.) The follower continues turning right on the third beats 5 6 7 and leader drapes right arm behind the follower’s head on 7. Dile Que No ends the move.

Puente

This step is a group move done by two or three couples together. In a larger circle, the caller designates how the couples should group to do the move. The leaders join hands to form a bridge while their followers travel back and forth beneath it. After the second passage, followers turn left; leaders exchange partners and the larger circle reforms. Puente looks particularly nice in performances.

Balsero Nuevo at 0:00 to 0:14

Balsero Nuevo

After the first eight beats of Balsero, the leader back-rocks the follower for three beats, then leads the “Sombrero turns” on beats 5, 6, 7. Note that two turns are done in 8 beats in the ordinary version of Balsero, but they are done in only 4 beats in Balsero Nuevo. Fast turns are not typical of Casino moves, but they look flashy. Finally, the move ends with Dile Que No.

Enchufla con Bikini at 3:21 to 4:08

Enchufla con Bikini

This lively Enchufla-based move as shown in the video. The followers are not connected to their leaders for a number of beats, so they have liberty to make up an original movement or styling sequence if they wish.

Calvo at 1:05 to 1:59

Calvo

“Calvo” means “bald.” This short move demands quick reactions and precise timing. I learned it in a private lesson in Cuba.

Advanced Moves

La Jenny

This move begins with Enchufla, then the follower moves all the way around the leader. After that, the leader does a quick wrist lead that makes the follower do a fast turn and continues leading the follower further around. After that, the follower and then the leader unwinds. It ends with Enchufla and DQN.

La Rubenada

La Rubenada has some unusual components. It has leaders and followers connected behind their backs in one segment. It also features what I call “the funky turn” in which both leads and follows have one arm that is hammerlocked. The “funky turn” switches which of their arms is hammerlocked, for both leads and follows. It also has partners unravel a complicated connection by just letting go of their hands. Usually Rueda dancers stay connected and unwind some other way. So this is an unusual maneuver.

Beso Complicado with Straight Jacket

Beso Complicado is a lovely extension of the move Beso. The Straight Jacket element is optional and looks eye-catching.

Balsero Extended at 1:15 to 1:42

Balsero Extended

Combines Balsero, a section of Sombrero Doble, a back-to-back Dedo section. It ends with a segment of a move called Paseala al Revés in which the leader starts moving the follower in a counter-clockwise circle, and then changes the follower’s direction to be moving clockwise. It ends with an Enchufla.

Kentucky Complicado at 17:42 to 18:06
El Sabor at 16:30 to 16:50
Siete Loco Complicado at 13:18 to 14-42 and a two-couple example at 15:18 to 15:48

Kentucky Complicado

This is an advanced variation on Kentucky. The move starts and also ends with Kentucky but there is some complicated movement in between, including a visually effective hook-and-unhook action.

El Sabor (“Ponle Sabor”)

There are sections in this move that are tricky, such as when the leader turns the follower right and then breaks her movement. The follower has to turn slowly and not move around too far before the leader stops her.

Siete Loco Complicado

Starts with Siete Loco and finishes with Setenta Nuevo. The two-couple demonstration actually shows the leaders doing the move slightly differently. It’s a good example of how experienced leaders may execute some portions of a move differently and both approaches work.

Not Afraid to Admit a Little Secret: Though we rehearsed for months prior to this show at the Kennedy Center, none of us realized we were doing the move differently. I only saw this afterward, while watching the video!

Bebe

This step includes some segments of these moves: Balsero y Beso, Exhibe, a back-to-back turn, and Abanico as well as some other material. It’s not difficult, but it’s long and takes practice to memorize the full sequence of movement.

Thalia starting at 0:38

Thalia

This advanced figure involves a number of flashy, quick turns that are eye-catching. The full move starts with an Enchufla, which is not shown in this video. That is because dancers blended Carnaval, another flashy move, with Thalia, which requires eliminating the Enchufla! The initial 8 beats of Enchufla just bring the follower to the leader’s right side. From there, at 0:38 you can see the entire move.

Blending Moves

Blending means flowing from one move directly into another without a Guapea between them. Sometimes the caller announces the next move eight beats before the current one ends, so it’s the two full moves immediately back to back.

In other cases, part of one or both moves is intentionally omitted. This enables the dancers to transition into the second figure at a point in both moves when they are in the same or a very similar position.

A circle that blends moves can look wonderfully fluid and sophisticated, but both leaders and followers need to listen closely and recognize calls quickly. The demands of dancing this way are significant, particularly on the caller who has to understand where such transitions are possible. The challenging nature of blending moves makes this exciting for the dancers!

Balsero y Beso at 22:33 to 23:41

Dedo Puente at 0:32 to 0:50

Examples:

Vacila y Dame—Many moves are enriched by simply joining them with a Dame at the end if they normally end with Dile Que No. This is a very simple example of blending. Moves can also be done by adding a Dame Dos or Dame Arriba at the end instead of DQN. Or a move that ends with Dame can be done by ending it instead with a Dame Arriba or Dame Dos.
Balsero y Beso—Do the first eight beats of Balsero, then pick up Beso starting from beat 1, and running that entire move.
Dedo Puente—Begin with Dedo. After 24 beats, pick up Puente starting from the 8th beat of that move, which is when the two leaders connect hands. It’s a striking combination, particularly because it begins as an individual move and ends as a group move.

Rueda Structures and Concepts

Rueda dancing can also be done by fundamentally altering the structure of the dance, or by keeping the structure the same but altering the concept of how movements are done. For example, a simple alteration is for leaders to move clockwise to a new partner instead of going in the usual counter-clockwise direction. To accomplish this, dancers face “outside of the circle.” This is referred to as an inverted circle or dancing Rueda “Pa’ Fuera.”

Another structure alteration, called Llanta, is to have two concentric circles, where the outer circle moves in the usual direction and the inner circle moves in the clockwise direction. Then couples from the inner and outer circle can line up and dance in the “small, two-couple circle” that they create. The caller designates not only the move, but whether it is to be done within these small “pequeña” circles or the large “grande” circle (i.e. the inner or the outer circle).

An example of a conceptual difference in how to dance Rueda de Casino would be TOCADOF (“Transition Oriented Calling and Development of Figures”). This approach doesn’t change anything structurally but dancers only do short moves and the calls emphasize fast movement around the circle, with many kinds of traveling moves and Dames. Some Ruedas are also done with a 4 or 8 beat rhythm offset. So half of the couples in the circle are on one rhythm and half are on another.

I think the longer someone has danced Rueda, the more mind-blowing these approaches are. They require a lot of thinking but are great fun to dance!

An entire page on this website is dedicated to describing and illustrating (with videos) some of these altered approaches to Rueda dancing. Check that out at danceintime.com/info/rueda-structures-and-concepts

In addition, many more step instructions, video tutorials, and Rueda structures area described in the book: Salsa Dancing & Rueda de Casino Guidebook for Beginner to Advanced Dancers, written by yours truly (aka Barbara Bernstein).

Rueda de Casino Moves: Step Descriptions, Videos, plus Teaching & Learning Tips