Over the weekend, I booked my trip to Cuba. To Havana (or Habana, the correct spelling) to be specific. I still have family there and can legally visit (my parents left the island in 1968 – and although my sister was born there, I was born in the US, here in Houston). I have wanted to go for years but have never acted on my desire to do so using the excuse that I could not afford it. But I put those anxieties aside and with my husband’s support, booked the ticket for the last week in May.
I will post more on my thoughts and anxieties and excitement about the trip in a separate entry but in the meantime, I decided to pick up salsa dancing again, especially after confirming that my family in Cuba loves to dance as well. I needed to get back in shape and I thought it would be a way to get some exercise in as well. As you may or may not know, I took salsa lessons several years ago and have reached an advanced level. A standard salsa class won’t really teach me much else unless I want to go into competition (which I don’t) so I decided to get more experience in “rueda” or “rueda de casino” salsa dancing…
Per Wikipedia: “Rueda de Casino” dancing is a specialized type of salsa dancing where “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 moves involve the swapping of partners.”
I had learned the basics already and know some essential combinations but my current class is really making me step up my game!! I am getting some awesome exercise, I’ve met some amazing dancers who are really challenging me (which I need) and all this has reinvigorated my love for salsa dancing! I hope to be able to go out a couple of times a month outside of class and hit the local salsa scene so I get some of my dancing stamina back before I head to Cuba at the end of May and dance in the country where salsa originated! Really can’t wait!
To give you an idea of what rueda looks like, check out the video below…
Getting back to my Cuban roots…
I will post more on my thoughts and anxieties and excitement about the trip in a separate entry but in the meantime, I decided to pick up salsa dancing again, especially after confirming that my family in Cuba loves to dance as well. I needed to get back in shape and I thought it would be a way to get some exercise in as well. As you may or may not know, I took salsa lessons several years ago and have reached an advanced level. A standard salsa class won’t really teach me much else unless I want to go into competition (which I don’t) so I decided to get more experience in “rueda” or “rueda de casino” salsa dancing…
Per Wikipedia: “Rueda de Casino” dancing is a specialized type of salsa dancing where “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 moves involve the swapping of partners.”
I had learned the basics already and know some essential combinations but my current class is really making me step up my game!! I am getting some awesome exercise, I’ve met some amazing dancers who are really challenging me (which I need) and all this has reinvigorated my love for salsa dancing! I hope to be able to go out a couple of times a month outside of class and hit the local salsa scene so I get some of my dancing stamina back before I head to Cuba at the end of May and dance in the country where salsa originated! Really can’t wait!
To give you an idea of what rueda looks like, check out the video below…
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