SalsaIsGood – Cuban Salsa for “Non-Cubanos”

SalsaIsGood – Cuban Salsa for “Non-Cubanos”

This document contains the description of the turn patterns contained in the DVD ‘Cuban Salsa for “Non Cubanos”’. This may help you to practise the figures when you are not in front of the TV as well as to memorise them.

“Classic” Cuban Figures

Idea #1, Surprise catch in front. Holding Left to Right the man leads the lady into a right turn, followed by a left turn. Instead of finishing the left turn, the man places his Right on the lady’s left shoulder, then catches her Right with his Right and leads her to the left behind him. The man turns left, catches the lady’s Right with his Left, and leads her into a left turn. Then he hooks her right hand behind his left shoulder and leads a dilequeno.

Idea #2, Shoulder twist. In a crossed hold, the man leads the lady into a reverse hammerlock + left turn, performs a right hook-turn followed by a right turn for the lady. Then the man leads the lady into a right turn (around his right shoulder) transferring his Right to the front. To finish the figure the man leads a left turn for the lady, then leads her to his right (notice that both hands are down) and performs a dilequeno.

Idea #3, Surprise catch on the shoulder. In a normal hold the man leads a hammerlock + left turn. The man releases his Left and initiates the lady’s left turn. He surprises her by stopping her with his Left on her left shoulder and leads her into a right turn instead, before resolving with the usual dilequeno.

Idea #4, Man needing a hug. In a normal hold, the man leads a hammerlock + left turn. The man performs a ½ right turn with a hook-turn, transfers his left hand over his head and brings both hands down. At this moment the man is standing with his back to the lady in a sort of an embrace. From here, the man exits the embrace, completes his right turn and ends up facing the lady. The man turns left and leads an inside left turn for the lady, followed by a dilequeno.

Idea #5, Sombrero and shoulder twist. In a crossed hold, the man leads the lady into a right turn and finishes this turn with a sombrero, where both dancers are facing the same direction and their hands are behind their shoulders. The man finishes the sombrero by pulling his left hand down (behind the back). From this position the man leads the lady into a right turn, followed by a left inside turn (similar to Figure 2) and finally by a dilequeno.

Idea #6, One sombrero follows the other In a crossed hold the man leads the lady into a right turn followed by a sombrero. From here, the man lifts his right hand from his shoulder and leads the lady into a left turn with a duck and another sombrero on the guy’s left side. He then repeats the same move in the opposite direction. From the third sombrero the man leads the final dilequeno.

Idea #7, The beautiful one. In a crossed hold, the man leads a reverse hammerlock + left turn. He then performs a right hook-turn and leads the lady (who now is behind his back) towards his left side. He then lifts his Left up and brings it down behind the lady’s back. This forces the lady into a half right turn; the man also turns right and finds himself side to side to the lady. Now, holding Left to Left the lady is lead into a right turn, while at the same time the man executes a left turn. He brings his left behind his shoulder and concludes the figure.

Idea #8, Multiple DileQueNos. Holding Right to Right the man leads the lady into a right turn followed by a left turn. As soon as the lady finishes the turn, the man releases his Right and catches the lady’s Right with his Left. Stepping forward the man catches Right to Right and leads a dilequeno. The lady walks to the opposite side and the man catches her Right with his Left. He leads the lady behind his back to the opposite side, exchanging hands and catching her Right with his Right. From this position the man repeats a dilequeno 2 times.

Idea #9, Spaghetti arms. In a crossed hold the man leads a reverse hammerlock + left turn. He then performs a right hook-turn and leads the lady (who now is behind his back) towards his left side. Turning right man leads the lady into a left tunnel. Then he brings his right hand in front of his face and over his head, virtually undoing the tunnel (this action is facilitated by the lady walking clockwise). He then places the lady’s left arm over his shoulders and leads a dilequeno.

Idea #10, Avoiding embraces. In a normal hold the man leads a hammerlock+left turn. The man turns right with a hook-turn, transfers his Left over his head to the front and brings it down; then he releases both hands and catches Left to Left and Right to Right (crossed hold). He then leads a ‘shoulder twist’ on his left side. With his Right the man leads the lady into a right turn and leads a dilequeno.

Idea #11, Shoulder game. Holding Left to Right the man leads a right turn for the lady followed by a left turn. Now, by leading with the right hand on the lady’s left shoulder, they both go into an under arm right turn. This sequence is repeated: the man and the lady turn right, followed by the left turn for the lady. The man hooks the right hand of the lady behind his left shoulder and leads a dilequeno.

Idea #12, Looks like tango. Holding Left to Right, the man leads a right turn for the lady followed by a left turn. Then he catches the lady on his right side as if he wanted to lead a dilequeno. However instead, the dancers get into a ‘tango hold’ and do a basic step by crossing each other in front a few times. This sequence is repeated and ultimately the man leads a dilequeno.

SalsaIsGood Figures

Idea #13, Sleeping a dream of frantic ecstasy. In a normal hold the man leads a hammerlock+left turn. The man places the lady’s Left behind her head (holding it with his Right) and turns her left. The lady walks turning and ends up in front of the man, facing the opposite direction. The man catches the lady’s Right with his Right, leads her around, turns left and exchanges hands behind his back, so that he now holds lady’s Right with his Left. He leads a left turn for the lady and finishes the figure with a dilequeno.

Idea #14, Living a windy life. In a crossed hold the man leads a reverse hammerlock+left turn. The man performs a right hook-turn, and holding Right to Right places his right arm over the lady’s shoulders. The lady turns right and the man turns left at the same time and the dancers end up facing each other. Holding lady’s Right with his Right, the man places his right hand over his head and behind the shoulders. His Left is holding the lady’s Left behind her back. The man releases his Right and with his Left leads a cross body leady with an inside left turns for the lady. From here the man places the lady’s left hand over his head and leads a dilequeno.

Idea #15, Making life difficult is easy. In a normal hold the man leads a right turn for the lady. The man does a ½ right turn, transfers his Left over his head and brings it down behind his back. Then he ducks under his Left, places his Right behind the lady’s head and leads her into an inside left turn. When the lady finishes the turn, the man catches her Left with his Right transfers his left hand over his head to the front and turns right. Note that the dancers end up in a hammerlock position. The man leads a left turn for the lady, catches her on his right side and leads a dilequeno.

Idea #16, The enduring desire for fragile sparkles of infinity. In a crossed hold the man leads a lady’s right turn into a sombrero. The man releases his Left, brings his Right down, and to the front, catches the lady’s Right and leads the lady into an inside left turn. When the lady finishes the turn, the man turns half left, catches the lady’s right shoulder with his left hand and leads her into an inside left turn, followed by a final dilequeno.

Idea #17, By summing two salsa figures another salsa figure is obtained. In a crossed hold the man leads a right turn for the Lady into a sombrero. Here the man brings his right hand down behind his back. The man ducks down, turns right and leads the lady into a tunnel during which the lady turns left. To finish the figure he performs a comb and leads a dilequeno.

Idea #18, Dancing out of time is a sin. In a crossed hold the man leads a reverse hammerlock+left turn and performs a right hook-turn. The man leads the lady into a tunnel, where the lady turns right passing under the man’s arms. While holding both hands, the man performs a comb on the lady and leads a dilequeno.

Idea #19, Touching heaven with a finger. In normal hold the man leads a hammerlock+left turn. The man hooks the lady’s right hand behind his left shoulder and releases both hands. Touching the lady under her chin with the fingers of his left hand the man leads her into a left turn. Then he changes his hands and touching the lady under the chin with his Right leads a dilequeno.

Idea #20, Understanding the structure of mess. In a normal hold the man leads the lady into hammerlock. From there he leads another right turn, which forces the lady to duck under the man’s right arm. At the same time the man has brought his left arm up, and down behind his back. The man starts leading the lady around to the left. In order to do this he has to kneel down and transfer his right arm over his head to the front. When the dancers are back to back the man rises up, leads a ½ left turn for the lady and performs a right hook-turn. Then he leads a left turn for the lady, followed by a dilequeno.

Idea #21, The number of possible salsa figures is unlimited. In a normal hold the man leads the lady into a left turn and does a half right turn bringing both hands down in front of him. From here, with the right hand raised, he leads the lady into a left turn so that she ends up in a (left) hammerlock position. Holding the lady’s Left with his Right he places the lady’s left hand behind her head, releases his Left and turns the lady left with his Right. Then he catches the lady’s Left with his Left, performs a comb and a final dilequeno.

Idea #22, Apocalyptic urge for a caress. Holding Left to Right the man leads the lady into a right turn followed by a left turn. Still holding the lady’s Right, he places his Left on his shoulders behind his head. Then he releases the lady’s hand and, by gently touching her cheek with his Right, he leads her into a right turn. Meanwhile, the man turns left. He embraces the lady with his both hands and leads a cross body lead with an inside turn. He catches the lady on the right side and leads a dilequeno.

Idea #23, Finding trivial truth by digging below depth. In a crossed hold, the man leads the lady into a right under arm turn followed by a left turn, during which he releases the hold with the Right and brings his Left over his shoulder. Immediately after, with his Right he catches the lady’s right arm from behind her back and turns her right. As soon as the lady turns, he catches her Right with his Left, leads her around clockwise, changes hands Right to Right, turns the lady left and leads a dilequeno.

Idea #24, Folded manifolds in four dimensions. In a normal hold the man leads a hammerlock+left turn. Then he starts leading the lady with his Right in a clockwise circle. The man alternates staying still to turning slightly right, in order to always face the lady. After the lady finishes the second circle, the man leads her into an inside left turn followed by a dilequeno.

Idea #25, For each salsa figure there exists a symmetrical one in space and time. Holding Right to Right the man leads a right turn for the lady. From here the lady performs half left turns followed by half right turns (basically a cucaracha basic step). At the same time the man performs right turns and repeatedly changes hand hold behind his back in order to lead the lady. To finish, the man leads a left turn and a dilequeno.

Idea #26, The intellectual marvels of simple ideas. In a crossed hold the man leads a ½ right turn for the lady with his Right, while he performs a ½ left turn and brings his Right over his head to the front. Then he releases his Right, brings his Left up and leads the lady into a left turn ending with a dilequeno.

Idea #27, Life is as complicated as you are willing to see. In a crossed hold the man leads the lady into a right turn and finishes the turn with a sombrero. The man brings his Left down behind his back, while raising his Right up and leads the lady around counterclockwise. When the lady completes one circle, he leads her into a right turn, throws her hand up, turns left, catches the lady’s Right with his Left and leads an inside left turn followed by a dilequeno.

Idea #28, The unavoidably trivial reasons for life’s complexity. In a normal hold the man turns the lady left. The man performs a ½ right turn, brings his Left over this head to the front, then raises his Right up and leads the lady into a left turn until the dancers end up in a (left) hammerlock position. From this position the man leads the lady into a duck. When the lady finishes the turn, the man transfers his Right (holding the lady’s Left) behind his back and starts walking counterclockwise while he brings his Right down. Still walking around, the man brings his Right up and transfers it over his head. While he keeps his Right up, the lady has to slightly duck under his left arm. When the arms are completely unwound the man leads the lady into a right turn, followed by a left turn and the dilequeno.

Idea 29, The biological purpose of metaphysics. In a normal hold the man leads a hammerlock+left turn. The man hooks the lady’s left arm behind his right shoulder, turns ½ right, catches Right to Right underneath, turns the lady left, performs a right hook-turn followed by a left turn for the lady and a dilequeno.

Idea 30, Countable infinities. In a crossed hold the man leads a reverse hammerlock+left turn and performs a right hook-turn, bringing his both hands down. Then the man brings his Left up, performs a ½ left turn, he leads the lady into a ½ right turn with his Left and bring both hands down in front of the lady. When the lady finishes a ½ turn, her hands are crossed in front of her. The man releases his Left and holding the lady’s Right with his Right leads her into a left turn.

Idea 31, Intoxicated by a polluting desire for clear thinking. In a crossed hold the dancers go into a back to back turn (the man turns left and the lady turns right). With his Right the man leads the lady into a left turn, and brings his Right over the lady’s left shoulder. With his Left still holding the lady’s Right underneath he leads the lady into a ½ right turn. Then he releases his Left, walks around the lady to the left, leads another left turn for the lady, catches Left to Right and performs a dilequeno.

Idea 32, Making life easy is difficult. In a normal hold the man leads the lady into a hammerlock+left turn. The dancers keep walking clockwise and the man leads an under arm left turn, he turns ½ right under his own arms, and then brings both arms down behind his back. He then raises them up again, leads a right turn and the final dilequeno.

Idea 33, Loop of Loops. In a normal hold the man leads the lady into a right turn and loops his right arm around her neck. He then starts leading her clockwise in a circle. The man lifts the Left and rests it on his right shoulder; he brings his Right up and, with the Right, continues to lead the lady around. He then performs a comb on the lady with his Right, he leads the lady into a ½ left turn, brings the Left down in front of her and, in order to allow the lady to turn, he has to release his Right. He finishes with the usual dilequeno.