Salsa moves

Guapea's quiet twin. The closed-position Cuban basic — where casino rests, breathes, and waits for the next call.

Reverse gear. The basic stepping back instead of forward, used to change facing or open up distance.

The heartbeat of every figure. The forward-and-back rock-step that every linear salsa move is built on top of.

The embrace that leads. Learn the closed hold as its own skill and every lead you ever give gets clearer.

The linear workhorse. The slot-clearing exchange that moves the follow past the lead and powers most of linear salsa.

The basic that rotates. A back-break with a little turn baked in — your first taste of travelling around a partner instead of in place.

The master reset. "Tell her no" — the cross-body walk-across that returns any casino figure to open home position.

Plug in and swap. The casino workhorse — a half-turn place-swap that feeds nearly every Cuban combination.

Break toward, not away. The basic stepped forward instead of back — the other half of your rhythm and the root of every travelling lead.

The casino home base. The open, push-and-pull Cuban basic that every casino figure launches from and returns to.

Your turn to turn. The lead's own clockwise turn — the move that lets you change direction, decorate, and finally dance instead of just steer.

The counter-clockwise sibling. A left underarm turn that often gathers the follow into a closed hold.

Load the spring. A tension-and-rebound break that creates the momentum and distance to launch turns.

The first turn everyone learns. A clockwise underarm turn for the follow, returning to the same spot.

The basic, turned sideways. A lateral rock-step that sets up turns and adds variety without leaving home position.

Frame the movement. Controlled arm lines that complement the body instead of fighting it.

Big feeling, tiny footprint. A compact follow turn out of an open break that looks great and fits the most crowded floor.

The simplest place-swap in the book: leader and follower trade spots in a gentle half-arc while staying joined by one hand — the first pattern most beginners learn after the basic.

Hands crossed, doors opened. The frame that unlocks the sombrero family — establish it cleanly and a whole cluster becomes available.

Crossing footwork. A lateral travelling shine where one foot crosses the other, often with a tap or swivel.

Give me the next one. The caller's command to rotate to the next partner around the wheel.

The double plug. Two enchufla actions back-to-back, spinning the follow left then right.

Frame your own face. A styling sweep of the hand up and over the head — the first move that makes a turn look like *you*.

Punctuation marks. Weightless taps that accent the music and fill the silent counts.

Where salsa lives. Foot-driven hip movement that gives the dance its signature flavour.

Half a hat. The one-handed Sombrero — same turns, lighter frame, no overhead placement.

The smooth travelling walk that defines New York line salsa — as the follower crosses the slot the leader walks past in the opposite direction, the two trading places along a clean straight line.

Loosen the top. One shoulder back, then the other — the simplest way to put feeling into your upper body without moving your feet.

The lateral rock. A side-to-side break step that the rest of your shine vocabulary layers on top of.

Wind and unwind. A compact figure where the follow winds clockwise into the lead's chest, then unravels.

Place the hat. Two walking right turns ending with both arms drawn overhead like putting on a hat.

The shine that cures the freeze. Step, touch, repeat — the simplest solo footwork there is, and the one that proves you never have to stand still.

The first shine. A swiveling cross-touch step that travels sideways — every dancer's entry into solo footwork.

Load before you fire. The wind-up that coils the follow's momentum before releasing her into a turn.

Check her out. A showcase travelling double-turn where the follow walks her own turn while the lead admires.

The Cuban turn. The follow's right turn — stationary or travelling around a circle.

Just walk the music. Step on the strong beats and travel — the most honest shine there is, and the frame every fancier one hangs on.

A Cuban casino figure that 'fans' the follower out and back around the leader in a sweeping arc, keeping the circular, grounded casino flow turning between enchufla-family moves.

Open the wings, then reel her back. A two-hand inside turn that blooms wide open before the check snaps it shut.

Catch and release. Send the follow out, stop her with a check, let her peek back, then send her on — often into an inside turn.

The cross-body, spiced. A CBL where the follow spins toward the lead (left/inside) as she crosses the slot.

The rubber band. A cross-body that stretches apart at the end instead of collapsing back — and that stretch becomes free energy for whatever comes next.

The flashier cross-body. A CBL where the follow spins away from the lead (right/outside) as she crosses.

The nestle. The follow wraps to the lead's side, both facing forward, hands crossed in front.

The conversation. A shadow-position forward-back walk done low, then at shoulder height, all connection and play.

Plug in, then play. An enchufla that pauses side-by-side for a shared tap-to-the-clave before resolving — the casino's built-in moment of fun.

Hook turn, hands overhead. Evelyn's twin — the lead spins, but this time the joined hands pass over the top.

The lead spins too. An enchufla where you hook your own turn into the swap — the casino's reminder that leads get to dance, not just steer.

Show her off. A presentational walk that parades the follow around an oval, displayed to the room.

Let go and let her fly. The inside turn led from the fingertips instead of the shoulder — lighter, faster, and the gateway to multiple spins.

Comb her hair, walk away clean. A graceful hand-over-the-head pass that resolves a two-hand tangle into open position.

The folded arm. A turn that gently tucks one of the follow's arms behind her back into a new, lockable position.

The escape hatch. Releases the folded arm by raising it and spinning the follow back to open.

Swap the hold without a turn. A downward toss that changes which hand is joined or passes the hand behind the back.

A travelling left turn. The follow does a cross-body and spins toward the lead one-and-a-half times.

A travelling right turn. The follow does a cross-body and spins away from the lead, often twice.

The leader draws the follower straight through and past on a single hand, the two swapping ends of the line in one clean pulling pass — fast, simple and endlessly chainable.

Begin a cross-body lead, then change your mind: the leader checks the follower and sends her back the way she came, a playful fake-out that resets the line.

The cross-body lead run in the other direction — the leader sends the follower across to the opposite side, opening up the mirror half of the line and a whole new set of exits.

The casino classic. A hammerlock-and-unravel combination that every intermediate dancer must own.

A cross-body lead taken slow and silky — the leader checks the follower's momentum and lets her glide across the slot, turning a plain pattern into a smooth, controlled showpiece.

A crisp solo footwork shine: the free foot taps out to the side and back on each beat like a metronome, the body staying tall while the feet tick away the rhythm.

Send her in, change your mind. A half-wrap that stops short and snaps her right back — a tease the music loves.

Goodbye to this one. A turn-away partner change — leave your partner and collect the next.

A free spin where the follower's arm coils overhead like a spring — she spins under a rising, spiralling hand and unwinds out the other side in one continuous flourish.

The vertical ripple. A smooth sequential wave through the body, hips to chest to head.

A travelling jazz-flavoured shine — relaxed, slightly bent-knee walks that drift forward and back with a swing in the shoulders, borrowed straight from the mambo footwork tradition.

Walking. Travelling open-position walks that keep the dance (or the rueda) moving.

The padlock. Doubled two-hand enchuflas whose arms form a "lock" before a hooked resolution.

The leader sweeps the joined hand around the follower's back like a matador's cape, wrapping and releasing her across his body in one flowing, theatrical pass.

The travelling left turn. A curved-line left turn where the follow travels more than a full rotation around the lead.

Peek, then pass through. The copa's shoulder-check followed by a walk-through and turn — the move that turns a tease into a journey.

Travel and trap. A cross-body inside turn that folds the follow's arm into a hammerlock as she lands.

Two rotations, one slot. The CBL inside turn doubled — the move that teaches your follow to spin twice and still land home.

The circling back step. A rotating back-basic borrowed from Colombian cumbia that drifts you around in a circle.

Tell her yes. The counterpart to Dile Que No — an outside right turn that gathers the follow into closed embrace.

The follower's spotlight: led on one high hand, she struts a slow walk-around the leader, styling freely as she circles — the showcase moment of LA-line social dancing.

Play with density. Move at twice or half the rhythmic density to match the music's energy.

The finger. A right-to-right vacilala where the lead ducks under his own arm before turning the follow — playful, compact, unmistakably casino.

Plug in and pass on. The core Rueda partner-change: an enchufla that hands the follow to the next lead.

A flowing figure-eight: the leader traces a sideways eight with the joined hands while the follower swivels and steps the curving path, the body drawing a smooth loop on each side.

Catch the accent. Stop or strike a pose on a sharp musical hit — sometimes stillness lands hardest.

The neck-led cuddle. An enchufla into a cuddle where the lead turns to face centre, leading by the shoulder.

The figure-eight. The lead weaves a figure-eight around the follow while she steps in and out.

The grounded glide. A bouncy, bent-knee glide-step that looks like floating between the feet.

Walk her around. Parade the follow counter-clockwise around the lead, switching hands behind the back.

The power of stillness. Hold a beat with intention to create contrast and tension before resuming.

Walk her around you. A promenade where the follow circles the lead — either a relaxed stroll or a swinging, cowboy-armed flourish.

Take her out. An extended showcase walk — like a longer Exhibela that draws the follow into the centre.

The leader catches the follower at the shoulder as she travels, redirecting her into the next change of place — strung together, the catches become a flowing, continuous run.

Isolation accents. Rapid alternating shoulder movement for punctuating a musical moment.

The hat, both sides. A sombrero that crosses to the other side and back — the full, flowing version of casino's signature drape.

Heel-toe sass. Knee-and-hip swivels that twist side to side, often crossing one leg over the other.

Both hands cross and the leader 'tows' the follower into a basket wrap behind him, her arms folded across in front — a compact, locked-up shape that looks far trickier than it leads.

Two turns on a curve. The travelling double turn that carries the follow around an arc instead of spinning her in place.

A full lap. The follow travels a complete circle around the lead, hands joined the whole way.

The leader passes the follower's hand behind his own back from one hand to the other as she travels through — a slick, hidden hand-change that flips the connection mid-pattern.

The rafter. A Sombrero that first sends the follow all the way around behind the lead's back.

Both joined hands carve a big horizontal circle — a 'barrel' — around the follower as she turns inside it, a large, sweeping rotation that fills space dramatically.

Dance the code. Phrase your breaks and accents to the clave — the rhythmic key of salsa music.

Runway attitude. A stylized cross-tracking walk with hip sway, used to travel or transition with flair.

Break against the grain. Shifting your break onto the contra-beat — the advanced musicality layer that gives On2 its smoky, behind-the-beat feel.

Skip one, take the second. Travel two positions around the wheel instead of one.

Both arms folded. A two-stage lock that wraps the follow's second arm, or travels her around back-to-back.

Goodbye, again and again. A chained Rueda call that fires off two or three Adiós rotations in a row — the wheel at full, dizzying flow.

Coiled rotation. A solo turn where the free leg hooks across the standing leg to drive the spin.

The advanced line-salsa hallmark: the follower delays the turn and then rotates two and a half times, finishing facing the new direction — the extra half-turn that gives NY patterns their flourish.

The mountain. A cross-handed enchufla and hook that brings both arms up and over into a Sombrero-like finish.

Double, then break free. A turn pattern that leads two controlled rotations straight into a free third spin — the advanced spinner's signature run.

Arm around the shoulders. Coming out of a turn, the lead's arm settles softly around the follow's neck.

Tangle, then untangle. A two-hand sequence that laces both arms into a pretzel knot and unwinds it in one flowing pass — the classic show of clean, unhurried leading.

Seventy, leveled up. A Setenta with an extra hooked enchufla woven into the middle.

The double-hook seventy. A Setenta with two successive elbow hooks before the resolution.

A trimmer seventy. A shortened Setenta defined by a single elbow hook.

Seven meets seventy. The Siete's travelling cross fused with the Setenta's hammerlock module — two casino classics welded into one advanced run.

End on a held breath. A small, safe dip to close a phrase — the move that's all trust, and the reason you stay upright while only your hands go down.

Free rotation on one axis. The follow's solo-spin technique — one lead, then momentum and spotting do the rest.

A cross-body combination built on the lady's left and underarm turns — the NY/line signature that strings turns and a cross-body lead into one flowing, recognizable run.

Turns on the move. A chain of single turns that propel the follow across the floor, one rotation per step.

Cross, cross, cross. A fast crossing-step shine with taps stacked three deep — the footwork flourish that turns a break into a statement.