Rueda de Casino

In Cuba, the salsa dance goes by the name of Casino, which comes from the so called 'Rueda de Casino' (Casino Wheel), a formation made up of several couples which, guided by a "leader", make figures and exchange partners. The leader calls out different names such as enchufla or 70, which corresponds to a certain dance pattern. All other dancers immediately respond by performing that particular dance pattern.

The Rueda is like a typical dance of suburbs, where each suburb has its favourite "leader", its private turns and sequences, as well as other aspects that differentiate it from the Rueda’s of other suburbs or areas. On festive days or at Carnaval in Cuba it is common for one Rueda to challenge another, and the Rueda with the least mistakes and greatest fluidity and grace is the winner.

The name, Rueda de Casino has its own history. After 1959, Gambling Casinos were closed. Later some of them reopened as dancing halls. At the beginning, people kept calling the dancing halls casinos and, as a result the type of dance done there was called Casino or Rueda de Casino.