Casino Rueda with Helen & Rhona - week 9 over all - 3rd week in intermediate

June 9, 2005

This was an odd class – largely a repeat of last weekend’s workshop. This meant I got to practice Lasso (which was easy – containing elements of SOS lesson from a while ago and reviewed with Cinzia on Monday), Cuba libre (which was very difficult for me as I’m trying to fix my Once footwork after hearing from Rhona last night that this involves back rock steps as is done in Patine + everything else was unfamiliar), Patine los dos (which I could have done already except for the need to work on that back-rock footwork and which as I learned today involves going to second follower (like dame dos). I decide to take notes on the spot (using post-it notes), but this was not really needed today considering the material covered.

Some commentaries for –

Lasso (after follower is lead to a free spin into the center) – also see Sat, Mon
1,2,3 basic
5,6,7 in place on 5, slide up on 6, feet together on 7
1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no

Patine los dos
As leaders return from the center of the circle, aim to end up between your old follower and “next” follower. However, you will be doing Dile que no with the follower who is immediately to the right of this “next” follower. So the effect is the same as Dame dos. Trying to figure out where your Dile que no follower at the end will spin out into while doing the back-rock steps can be tricky.

Also did Roca, Dereto (not Dereta), Cero Giro (Helen sometimes called this Enchufe Giro), Cero from Guapea, etc. were done. I missed on Babosa (note available) and Puente once again, and Huckleberry Hill (see below). A follower left, meaning there was an extra leader (for the first time!), so I sat out and took notes.

Ajo y perejil (pronounced Huckleberry Hill!?!? – I would have thought something like Ah-ho eee Peh-re-hil) – it should be interesting to see how this compares to Peter’s
R-R hold
1,2,3 Pimienta-like away step and back as follower is led to almost overtake leader’s original position
5,6,7 lead follower to ~1 3/4 clockwise turn with R-R high – ending with both facing the center
1,2,3 Exhibela start – step into the center of the Rueda circle and back
5,6,7 lead follower to pivot turn (into the circle and back with a full clockwise turn) with R-R high – follower’s L hand should approach leader’s right shoulder on 8 and leader should catch this hand with L hand
1,2,3 two-handed Coca cola – Dile que no start
5,6,7 lead follower across to my right side with full counterclockwise turn and follow follower’s turn on 6,7 to get back to the right side
1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no – end with L-R hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 Pimienta (away step and back on 1,2,3 and lead follower to ~1 1/2 to 1 3/4 clockwise turn on 5,6,7
1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no (normal Pimienta finish)

Babosa – Snail (repeated for good measure – let us see if this matches with previous note)
1,2,3 Like Enchufe but keep R-L low and connected to wrap follower
5,6,7 let go of L-R and roll out follower (she’s turning clockwise) using R-L so that the follower is reaching out to the next leader on my right – on 8 get hold of my (parriaba) follower on left
1,2,3 Enchufe with new follower (on my left)
5,6,7 (probably) simple “accommodating” steps
1,2,3,5,6,7 presumably Dile que no

End of Ocho (how to turn follower)
get R hand on follower’s R waist (since she’s facing you, R waist is to the center of the Rueda circle) on the return approach – I imagine that the ideal time to turn the follower would be on beat 3 as is done on Adios (another thing I was trying to practice – with more success than I had with Once footwork)

About at this point, one of the more experienced Rueda leaders pointed out that he had the most of the Rueda moves written down (and that he brought a copy with him). Later, I learned that he had these on a web site. I’ll get the link when he e-mails the address to me. In any case, here’s my translation of his notes.

Spelling issues – Bajala (this makes sense). Montarro (=Tarrito), Rossitay (I had it spelled Rosate previously)

Puente – Bridge
R-R hold
1,2,3 Enchufe start
5,6,7 “accommodating steps” and switch to L-R (seems silly not to have started with L-R in the first place as this change seem rather gratuitous)
1,2,3 step into the center of the Rueda circle and back with R hand pointing to the center
5,6,7 keep R hand ... hmm this cannot be right – start over (see below)

1,2,3 Enchufe start
5,6,7 “accommodating steps” and change to R-R – I think the follower might need to be led to move slightly back (towards the outside of the Rueda circle)
1,2,3 step into the center of the Rueda circle and back with L hand pointing to the center
5,6,7 keep L hand outstretched towards the center and lead follower to my left side under my L arm
1,2,3 lead follower back to the right side under my outstretched L arm
5,6,7 go to the next follower (on right)
1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no with next follower

Puente with couples (with even number of couples)
probably L-L connection with adjacent leader is made (unless it’s R-R)

Abanico – fan (I couldn’t get this from the notes alone – needed a demo from Helen)
crossed hold with R-R on top
1,2,3 Sombrero start (away step and back as follower is led forward to almost overtake)
5,6,7 lead follower to ~1 3/4 clockwise turn and end with sombrero hats briefly (but R-R hat is removed and moved back in front of follower’s head on 8/1 – let go of L-L
1,2,3 lead follower to a 3/4 to full clockwise traveling turn – like Enchufe (I think this is essentially Enchufe to get back into the original position with leaders on the R side of the Rueda circle)
5,6,7 hook turn for leaders
back to Guapea basic

Hombres derecha can be called during Once (or El dos, which we haven't done yet) while leaders are closer to the center of the Rueda circle.

So, this means my idea of Sombrero followed by Coca cola (or something like Roca) must have been a pure fantasy. In any case, I should try to work Roca into my partner routine – it’s easy enough (easier than Coca cola)

After a bit of notebook reading, I got back and learned definition of some simple moves

Dame complicado
I had imagined that this was like Dile que no with an extra turn – this is wrong
Instead, do Dame, Dame dos, Dame tres, Dame quatro in rapid succession

Dos con dos – 2 with 2
This simply means Dame dos with 2 claps before leading the final follower to Dile que no (on beats 1 and 2, of course)

Okay…for good measure, I’m going to write down Babosa again even though this is present in week 5 notes

I seem to recall Helen/Rhona saying something about Rueda being an 8-week course. This is week 9 for me, and I certainly have not seen everything on the list and have not reached competency with all of routines I have seen thus far– so I guess they were being optimistic with this 8-week estimate. :)

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