Rueda

Rueda or the Wheel or the LA RUEDA DE CASINO Is a group dance originating from Cuban . Couples form a circle - the “wheel” . With men having their left shoulders in the circle and the right in the outer circle. The whole group is under the control of the leader who calls out the moves wholly at their whim or by motioning his hand. Moves are a mixture of rehearsed combinations performed by couples and exchanges of partners in a variety of ways. The whole group performs these combinations and changes as one flowing, synchronised, harmonious mass. Its fun when it works and even funnier when it doesn’t. But once again that’s the emphasis – it’s fun.

Rueda is NOT, NOT for salsa beginners. Anyone contemplating trying Rueda for the first time should:

• Know their left from their right and their one from their five
• Be able to maintain the salsa rhythm completely automatically
• Be able to get back into step quickly when it goes wrong – and it will!!
• Be able to do both clockwise and anti-clockwise turns
• Be completely at ease with a cross-body-lead, both basic and rotating
• (For guys initially) be able to do a ronde or hook turn
• In short, you should be at least at improver/intermediate level
• Learning Rueda is about applying and developing the salsa that you already know in a Cuban style and a group environment – it is NOT about learning basic salsa. Having said that, rueda will improve your salsa, improve your rhythm, timing and confidence, and expand your repertoire of combinations - and all while having a lot of fun.