June 2010: Cuban, Level IV (Fundamentals of Cuban Casino – second month)
Week 1:
Basic Despolote Motion
Turn where M keeps R foot in place & walks L foot around clockwise while moving hips clockwise. W’s version of this turn keeps L foot in place & walks R foot counter clockwise while moving hips counter clockwise.
Pattern 0
1: Dile Que No
2: Cuban basic (Para Ti y Para Mi)
3: Cuban basic (Para Ti y Para Mi)
4: Vacilala
repeat 1-4
Pattern 1
1: Dile Que No
2: Hecho, but don’t catch W
3: Keep W going clockwise around M and position yourself (Man) so that woman
will pass right in front of you on the next 1
4: Do a “Smooth Spyrograph” J-hook to lead W in another Hecho, but
don’t catch W
5: Keep W going clockwise around M and position yourself (Man) the same as in
#3 above
6: Do a “Smooth Spyrograph” J-hook to lead W in a Vacilala, &
catch W
7: Exhibela, but don’t catch W
8: Keep W going clockwise around M for first 3 counts, then draw W in on 5-7.
Pattern 2
1: Dile Que No
2: Hecho, picking up R-L putting R-L all the way up arms so they rest on top of
W’s Rshoulder
3: Deshecho, keeping R-L on W’s R shoulder & L-R going over W’s
head. Then L-R coming back over W’s head to original position
4: Deshecho, R-L going over W’s head, then let W step back on5 to finish
turn to L, then J-hook to pull W to M’s R side (like the end of an Hecho)
and start to do R-L W’s head comb
5: finish R-L W’s head comb on1 and do Exhibela, keeping W pointed to go
clockwise around M
6: Walk W clockwise around M, taking R-L over M’s head on 1 & L-R
over M’s head on 3, then J-hook to pull W to M’s R side. (Might
have the order of the arms backwards)
Week 2:
Pattern
1: Dile Que No
2: Hecho, but don't catch W
3: Keep W going clockwise around M and position yourself (Man) so that woman
will pass right in front of you on the next 1
4: Do a "Smooth Spyrograph" J-hook to lead W in another Hecho, but
don't catch W
5: Keep W going clockwise around M and position yourself (Man) the same as in
#3 above
6: Do a "Smooth Spyrograph" J-hook to lead W in a Vacilala, &
catch W
7: Exhibela L-R, picking up R-L at end
8: Exhibela, but don't catch W
9: Keep W going clockwise around M for first 3 counts, then draw W in on 5-7.
So far it’s the same as Pattern 1 from Week 1, except
we inserted an extra Exhibela (Move #7)
10: Dile Que No
11: Hecho, w/ M stepping under L-R as W does pull-in (Male Deshecho)
12: Deshecho and then Male Deshecho
13: Deshecho and then Male Deshecho
14: Deshecho and then pull-in, switching to R-R
15: Dile Que No (open position), switching to L-R
Male Deshecho
During any pull-in on 5-7, M can do a ½ MLT (I think it’s more than ½
MLT. Maybe ¾). Can step under L-R, or pass W’s R hand behind M’s
back. This is just the 2nd half of repeating cumbias, & so all those hand
patterns work.
Dile Que No from open position
Footwork the same for closed position Dile Que No, but lead w/ R-R, &
switch to L-R at the end. W needs to keep her R hand near her chest on 3 for
this to work.
Dame Dos (Rueda Move)
W does Dile Que No footwork & guy picks 2nd W on his R on the 5-7. Can pick
her up in open or closed. M walks around the inside of W to his R when skipping
her.
Week 3:
Pretzel # 1, Variation 1
1: Hecho into hammerlock with picking up R-L low on 2 as she comes around.
2: Deshecho to open position, then M’s Deshecho to MLT
Hammerlock. For M’s Deshecho, M steps under L-R, & keeps R-L
low for hammerlock. M turns until his L shoulder faces W.
3: Pretzel: On1, both M & W do a small back break. On 2, M pulls W across
his back & under L-R with hammerlocked hand & then raises R-L for
her to step under. W does Exhibela footwork, meaning she doesn't turn
until just before 5. On5, M steps back for a Male Deshecho, & leading
W to finish her Exhibela turn to R with R-L. M then does the L turn for
Male Deshecho, stepping under R-L.
4: Deshecho, releasing R-L, to W’s pull-in
Pretzel #1, Variation 2
1: Hecho to RT Twister, picking up R-L high on 2 & taking both sets of
hands over W’s head. (“RT Twister” = “Right Turn
Twister”, the position you get when you start in open position &
either person makes a complete right turn with all hands over their head)
El Mundo Complicado (also used as Rueda move)
1: Dile Que No
2: Hecho, but don’t catch W
3: Walk W around M clockwise so W is to M’s L on 3, then do pull-in
4: Exhibela
5: Exhibela
In the case of a Dame immediately following this move, M releases W at end of
2nd Exhibela, steps toward on his R on7. W starts an unled Dile Que No & M
picks up the next W partway through this.
Week 4:
Pretzel #1, Variation 3
1: Dile Que No
2: Hecho with L-R. Then on7, grab R-L
3: W’s Deshecho to pull-in, holding all hands
4: ½ Half of Exhibela, then M's Deshecho to M's LT Hammerlock. For M's
Deshecho, M steps under L-R, & keeps R-L low for hammerlock. M turns until
his L shoulder faces W.
5: Pretzel: On1, both M & W do a small back break. On 2, M pulls W across
his back & under L-R with hammerlocked hand & then raises R-L for
her to step under. W does Exhibela footwork, meaning she doesn't turn
until just before 5. On5, M steps back for a Male Deschecho, &
leading W to finish her Exhibela turn to R with R-L. M then does the L
turn for Male Deshecho, stepping under R-L. (before 2nd half of M Deschecho,
you're in M's RT upper back cross)
6: Deshecho, releasing R-L, to W's pull-in
Pretzel II
1: Dile Que No
2: Vacilala, ending w/ M’s R shoulder facing W’s chest on 7, &
taking all L-R & R-L
3: Pretzel II: On 1-3, W’s Deschecho to W’s LT Hammerlock (keep L-R
low & R-L high); on 5-7, M steps forward & under R-L on5; to L on 6;
back & under L-R on7, pivoting 1/4R. Note stepping forward on 5 is the
opposite of what would happen w/ M Deshecho.
4: Lower L-R in front of M on 1, then W’s Deschecho to pull-in
Pretzel I & Pretzel II moves can be strung together for interesting effect.
Class notes created by Charles Bier and revised and edited by Eric Freeman.