Salsa Rueda!

Rueda de Casino (Rueda, Casino Rueda, Salsa Rueda) is a particular type of round dancing of Salsa. It was developed in Havana, Cuba in the late 1950s and early 1960s by the famous group Guaracheros de Regla and one of its main choreographers and creators was Jorge Alfaro from San Miguel del Padron, a soloist of a comparsa.

Pairs of dancers form a circle, with dance moves called out by one person, a caller (or 'Líder' or 'cantante' in Spanish). Many moves have hand signs to complement the calls; these are useful in noisy venues, where spoken calls might not be easily heard. Many of the moves involve the swapping of partners.

Ibrahim Ferrer

The names of the moves are mostly in Spanish, some in English (or Spanglish; e.g., "un fly"). Some names are known in slightly different versions, easily recognisable by Spanish-speaking dancers, but may be confusing to the rest.

Rueda is not only popular in Cuba or U.S.A., but in many other countries around the world - there are many active groups in at least Hungary, Israel, Norway, France, Germany, Poland, Russia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Spain, Australia, Switzerland and the UK. At least in Germany and Israel, some of the calls are in German and Hebrew respectively. In Hungary most of the dance schools usually teach cuban style in a Rueda.

Although the names of the calls are presently the same across the board, the different towns in Cuba use their own calls. This was due to the fact that when the pioneers of Rueda de Casino started, they wanted to keep others from participating in their Rueda. Nowadays many local variations of the calls can be found. They can change from town to town or even from teacher to teacher. For example, if you learn rueda in London you will not normally be able to dance it with people who learned rueda from a different teacher.

Nowadays, Rueda tries to be more "inclusive" and not "exclusive" and, in at least Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia, Callers are choosing calls to coincide more with the regular calls made in Miami, parts of U.S.A., and Europe. Also, when an instructor wants to keep classes fresh and fun, they often makes up new interesting calls. While this may decrease the fun of dancing rueda with people you just met, it makes for an expanding world of Rueda.

Casino Rueda scenes may be seen in the movie Dance with Me and in the music video clip No me dejes de querer by Gloria Estefan.

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Cuban Rueda de Casino - Santiago, Cuba Il

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