Salsa rueda is the pride of the Cubans. It is a dance that originated in their very own lands. It is rapidly picking up popularity, especially in the United States where there is a considerable number of Cuban immigrants reside, as well as in the other Latin-American countries. Salsa rueda has its own place among the other Latin-American dances.

A Brief History

Salsa rueda originated from a lot of influences. Its main influence was contradanza, an 18^th-century group dance, which is itself a result of several influences by nationals that have immigrated to Cuba. Other rhythms responsible for laying the foundation of the style include rumba and cha-cha. Some say the basis for Salsa rueda originated with the Haitians who brought French Court dances to Cuba, and blended in their own movements to make a unique style.  

Salsa rueda de Casino is the formal name of this style. The name stems from the fact that, after gambling casinos were cracked down in 1959, people turned these gambling places into dancing halls. Despite the fact that they were no longer gambling joints, the tag “casinos” stuck and carried over to the dances being done in the halls.

There is no definite fact pointing to the origin of salsa rueda. Two former gambling casinos are being pointed to as the origin of the name, namely, the Patricio Lumunba and the Sociedad de Recreo de Casino de la Playa.

Salsa rueda was brought to the United States by Cuban immigrants during the 1970s and 1980s. Formal introduction of the dance to the entire world is credited to Rosendo y Caruca who performed the dance in TV program Para Bailar in the 1980s. Rosendo y Caruca was a choreographer of the National TV Ballet in Cuba.

Characteristics

The contradanza used a dance director, which they called bastonero, in order to give instructions to the dancers. As a result, a similar director exists in rueda dances. The commands vary from country to group or from group to group. Basic instructions, however, remain like enchufla, 70, basilala, and la prima.

Salsa rueda dancing requires great awareness and coordination, especially when dancing in large groups. The rueda is considered a “wheel,” so people dance in a circle when doing the salsa. Salsa rueda is unique among other group dances because of the fact that people change partners in the middle of the dance as opposed to others where you only have to dance with one partner throughout the music.

The switch is done rapidly, and in sync with the music; hence, coordination and acute awareness of your surroundings is needed to become a casinero as salsa rueda dancers are called. Salsa rueda dancers also need to have good hearing and peripheral vision in order to be able to hear the calls by the leader, as well as perceive hand signals since the dance also involves hand signals if the dancing environment is deemed too loud for audio signals. All in all, the experience in salsa rueda is exciting and adrenaline pumping.