History:
Cuban-style salsa, also known as Casino. Cubans consider casino as part of social and cultural activities centering
around their popular music.
The name Casino is derived from the Spanish term for the dance halls, "Casinos Deportivos" where a lot of social dancing was done among the better
off, white Cubans during the mid-20th century and onward.
Historically, Casino traces its origin as a partner dance from Cuban Son, fused with partner figures and turns. As with the Son, Danzon and Cha Cha Cha,
it is traditionally, though less often today, danced "a contratiempo". This means that, distinct from subsequent forms of salsa, no step is taken on the first and fifth beats in each clave attern and the fourth and eighth beat are emphasised. In this way, rather than following a beat, the dancers themselves contribute in their movement, to the polyrythmic pattern of the music.
What gives the dance its life, however, is not its mechanical technique, but understanding and spontaneous use of the rich Afro-Cuban dance vocabulary within a "Casino" dance. A "casino" dancer will frequently improvise references to other dances,
integrating movements, gestures and extended passages from the folkloric and popular heritage. This is articularly true of African descended Cubans.
In the 1950s Rueda de Casino (salsa dance in group) was developed in Havana, Cuba. Pairs of dancers form a circle ("Rueda" in Spanish means "Wheel"),
with dance moves called out by one person (La Madre). Many of the moves involve rapidly swapping partners
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