All Salsa Moves

Cross Body Turn with Hand Swap

admin — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:10:10 +0000

Cross Body Turn with Hand Swap is similar to the Cross Body Turn except that is done from an open position and the leader leads the follower into the turn by her left hand with his left hand.

Description

Starting position: Open Position

Beat-by-beat On1:

Cross Body Turn with Hand Swap

Count	Leader	Follower
1	Steps forward with the left foot.	Steps back with her right foot.
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2	Steps off the followers path to the right with his right foot. Transfers the weight to the right foot.	Steps down with her left foot.
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3	Step out of the follower's way to her left while turning 90 degrees CCW, perpendicular to the starting position, to the left of the follower. The feet are at about shoulder width or a little wider, while taking follower's left hand with your left hand and putting your right hand on back of the follower's shoulder.	Steps forward with her right foot to the starting position.
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4	Remains stationary	Remains stationary
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5	Steps forward with her left foot.	Steps forward with her left foot.
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6	Pivot turns 90 degrees left on his left foot and starts turning the follower with his left hand 180 degrees CCW.	Steps forward with her right foot while doing a 360 degree CCW turn in order to face the same forward direction.
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7	Steps forward with his right foot while continues turning the follower another 180 degrees CCW.	Steps forward with her left foot.
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8	Feet are stationary in the initial position while completes turning the follower.	Lifts her right foot off the ground, making 180 degree CCW turn.
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1	Steps forward with the left foot.	Steps back down with her right foot.
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Hammerlock with Inside Turn

admin — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 05:03:55 +0000

Hammerlock with Inside Turn is a simple beginner salsa dance sequence that starts and ends in an open position. This dance sequence contains the following elements:

Description

Starting position: Open Position

Throughout the whole sequence the couple hold hands and finish in an Open Position.

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Followers Right Hand Turn with Hammerlock

admin — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 03:53:35 +0000

Followers Right Hand Turn with Hammerlock is similar in execution to the Followers Right Hand Turn, however the partners keep holding hands throughout the whole move.

At the completion of this move the leader and the follower end up facing each other, slightly offset to each other’s left. The follower keeps her left hand behind her back and the leader holds it with his right hand. The leader holds follower’s right hand in preparation for the next move.

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Leaders Right Hand Turn

admin — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 03:19:56 +0000

Leaders Right Hand Turn starts in an open position. During the move the leader makes 180 degree turn in front of the follower on the first 3 counts and basic forward and back steps on the last 3 counts. The leader makes only basic forward and back steps.

Description

Starting position: Open Position

Beat-by-beat On1:

Leaders Right Hand Turn

Count	Leader	Follower
1	Step forward on the left foot. Releases follower's left hand and lifts follower's right hand with his left hand just above his head.	Step backward on the right foot while following with her right had leaders left hand to just above his head.
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2	Start turning 360 degrees clock-wise on his right foot.	Place your weight on the left foot (usually remaining in the same spot)
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3	Finish the turn to face the follower while moving his left hand down to the original position and placing his left foot next to his right foot.	Step forward with your right foot back to the original position
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4	Pause	Pause
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5	Step backward with your right foot	Step forward with your left foot
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6	Replace the weight on the left foot (remaining in the same position)	Replace the weight on the right foot (without changing the position of the feet)
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7	Step forward with your right foot (back to the original position)	Step backward with your left foot (back to the original position)
	Optional styling	Optional styling
8	Pause	Pause
	Optional styling	Optional styling

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Followers Right Hand Turn

admin — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:48:43 +0000

Followers Right Hand Turn starts in an open position. During the turn the follower makes 360 degree turn in front of the leader. As the leader makes only basic forward and back steps, only his hand movements are described.

Description

Starting position: Open Position

Beat-by-beat On1:

Followers Right Hand Turn

Count	Leader	Follower
1	With your left hand bring partner's right hand down towards outside in a semi-circular movement.	Step back with your right foot and follow with your right hand leader's left hand down in a semi-circular motion.
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2	Reverse the hand movement and start bringing her hand up.	Step in place with your left foot and follow with your right hand leader's left hand up in a semi-circular motion.
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3	Complete bringing her hand up just above and in front of her head. Make sure her palm is open towards you as you place your two middle finders at the base of her fingers.	Step forward with your right foot and follow with your right hand leader's left hand up to just above and in front of your head. Ensure your palm is facing your partner.
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4	Pause.	Pause.
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5	Move partner's right hand slightle out towards outside.	Step with your left foot forward.
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6	Start turning your partner clock-wise.	Step down on your right foot and start turning on your right foot clock-wise.
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7	Complete the turn and move partners hand down.	Complete 180 degree turn to face your partner and put your left foot down.
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8	Pause.	Pause.
	Optional styling	Optional styling

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Full Dip

admin — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 03:05:13 +0000

Full dip is an exciting move in which a portion of the follower’s weight is supported by the leader’s frame.
Safety Warning: Followers, it’s up to you to stay in balance. Do not fully rely on the leader for balance. Instead support your weight with your own hips. Do NOT over-arch your back! Do NOT kick your legs up. Leaders, do not dip the follower too far.

Description

Starting position: Closed position.

Beat-by-beat On1:

Full Dip

Count	Leader	Follower
1	Steps forward on the left.	Steps back on the right.
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2	Steps down on the right	Transfers the weight to the left foot.
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3	Steps back with his left foot (ending up in a stance with the feet wider than shoulder-width apart, left foot behind right – very important for stability). Pulls and turns the partner into his body by pushing her towards himself on her left shoulder blade with his right hand and using his left arm to pull her right arm all the way into his chest, so that her right hip touches his right hip. Both partners line up facing the opposite directions, 90 degrees CCW to the original position. His right foot (in the wide stance) is right next to her feet (that should be together).	Takes a big step forward with her right foot, with both feet ending up next to her partner's right foot. Brings her body up close to her partner's body.
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4	Remains stationary	Remains stationary
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5	Pushes his knees out with his toes pointing slightly out. Leans over his right hip, while rotating his upper body approximately 30 degrees CCW, taking his partner's upper body down over his right hip and supporting her back with his right arm. Keep your back very straight to uphold both of your centres of gravity!	Bends her knees and pivot-turns counterclockwise on the balls of her feet, putting her lower back over her partner's right thigh. Keep your back relatively straight with only a small arch and tilt your head slightly back to avoid your chin touching your chest.
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6	Starts bringing his parter back up.	Starts coming back up with her partner's support.
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7	Brings his feet together (by bringing the right foot to the left).	Reverses the pivot rotation ending up facing her partner, standing up straight.
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8	Remains stationary	Remains stationary
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Half Dip

admin — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 02:38:11 +0000

Half dip is a simple move in which a portion of the follower’s weight is transferred to the leader.
Safety Warning: It’s up to you to stay in balance. Do not fully rely on the partner for balance. Instead uphold your weight with your hips.

Description

Starting position: Closed position.

Beat-by-beat On1:

Half Dip

Count	Leader	Follower
1	Steps forward on the left.	Steps back on the right.
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2	Steps down on the right.	Transfers the weight to the left foot.
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3	Steps back with his left foot (ending up in a stance with the feet wider than shoulder-width apart, left foot behind right – very important for stability). Pulls the partner into his body by pushing her towards himself on her left shoulder blade with his right hand and taking his left arm up, out and slightly behind his trunk, so that the front of her body touches the right side of the leader's body.	Takes a big step forward with her right foot ending up inbetween her partner's feet. Brings her body up close to her partner's body.
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4	Remains stationary	Remains stationary
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5	Completes the pivot rotation of his upper body to the left with his left arm extended (up and out), semi-squats by bending both his legs and rotating his hips down and counter-clockwise, and sits his partner into his hips.	Bends her knees and pivot-turns counterclockwise on the balls of her feet, sitting into her partner's thighs.
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6	Pauses	Pauses
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7	Reverses the pivot rotation to bring his partner in front of his body. The feet remain in place while he stands up straight.	Reverses the pivot rotation ending up facing her partner, standing up straight.
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8	Pauses	Pauses
	Optional styling	Optional styling

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Walk Through

admin — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 02:17:25 +0000

Walk through is an move involving a cross-body lead and a comb-over with the dancers’ arms. The leader’s footwork in this move is the same as in the simple cross-body lead.

Description

Starting position: Open Position The leader’s left hand and the follower’s right hand – in the normal handhold. The leader’s right palm is facing towards his right with the big thumb down, the palm of the follower’s left hand is facing the opposite direction, connected to the the leader’s right palm by the fingertips.

Beat-by-beat On1:

Walk Through

Count	Leader	Follower
1	Step forward on the left. Put your right hand over the follower's head, while maintaining your fingertip connection with her left hand. Your hand passes over the top (without touching her hair) and to the right of her head.	Step back on the right. Make sure you relax your left arm as its hand passes over your head while in connection to the leader's right hand and to the right of your face. (Do not fight it, duck under or turn).
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2	Step out of the follower's way to your right with the right foot. Complete the comb-over by taking your right hand to the top of the follower's back, behind her neck.	Transfers the weight to the left foot.
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3	Step out of the follower's way to her left (turning counter-clockwise), perpendicular to the starting position, to the left of the follower. Keep your right hand in approximately the same position as in the previous step, and using your left arm extend the follower's right arm in front of your chest (without pulling it). The feet are at about shoulder width or a little wider. The weight is on the right foot.	Step forward with the right foot, turning your upper body slightly clockwise
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4	Remain stationary	Remain stationary
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5	Either step back with your right foot or transfer the weight to the left foot. Start guiding the follower with your left hand by taking it to your left and to the eye level, and pushing her across with your right hand on top of her back, while still maintaining the fingertip connection.	Step forward with the left foot, turning your upper body slightly to the left.
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6	Step across to where she was with your left foot while pivot turning 90 degrees to your left on your left foot. Using your left hand take the follower's right hand above her head and start turning her to her right.	As you are turning to your right (clockwise), step back (in the direction opposite to where you started) with the right foot.
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7	Step forward with your right foot. With your right hand let go of the follower's left hand that is on her shoulder. Bring down your left hand (and her right hand) to complete her turn.	Complete the turn to face the leader, stepping back with your left foot to bring the feet together.
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8	Remain stationary	Remain stationary
	Optional styling	Optional styling

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Cross-Body Turn with Display

admin — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:05:42 +0000

This move is based on the cross-body turn and it incorporates a “display” of the follower and a turn. The footwork is very similar to Cross-Body Turn.

Description

Starting position: Double Crossed Position – Right Over Left

Beat-by-beat On1:

Cross-Body Turn with Display

Count	Leader	Follower
1	Step forward with your left foot.	Step back with your right foot.
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2	Step off the followers path to the right with your right foot. Transfer the weight to the right foot. Lifting your hands, bring both of the woman's arms up.	Step down with her left foot, lifting your right foot off the floor slightly. Follow the lead by helping the man bring both your arms up.
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3	Step out of the follower's way to your right (turning counter-clockwise),with feet perpendicular (at 90°) to the starting position. The feet are at about shoulder width or a little wider. The weight is on the right foot. The follower should be in front of you with her back towards you. Extend the follower's arms on the shoulder level by opening your arms up wide. The handhold briefly changes to that in which each of your hands is facing down above the follower's hand, and your fingers (including the thumb) hold her fingertips (excluding the thumb), and then to your hands across the follower's hands with your fingertips bent over her index fingers, thus holding up her hands.	Turn your upper body to your right, facing completely away from the leader and step forward with the right foot across your body. Your arms should be opened up wide on the shoulder level. This is the “display” part where you display yourself to the audience.
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4	Pause	Pause
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5	Step back with your right foot. With your right hand, let go of her right hand. Taking your left hand slightly to your left and forward, start turning her counter-clockwise.	Step forward with the left foot, and start turning yourself to the left.
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6	Step across to the right with your left foot while pivot turning 90 degrees to your left on your left foot. With your left hand in front of her forehead, continue turning the follower counter-clockwise.	Step forward with the right foot while turning left (counter-clockwise) to face the leader.
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7	Step forward with your right foot. Continue turning her counter-clockwise with your hand above her head now.	Keep turning to the left (counter-clockwise), stepping forward with your left foot, now facing away from the leader.
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8	Feet stationary, start bringing your left hand down to complete her turn on 1.	Continue rotating to the left to complete the turn and face the leader on 1.
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Forward and back

admin — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:09:51 +0000

Forward and back is one of the basic steps in salsa. It can be done either in the open position or closed position. The basic movement common across most salsa styles is to step quick-quick-slow over the 4 beat measure. Typically the quick steps are on beats one and two, and the slow step is actually a quick on beat three followed by a pause or tap on beat four. That is you step left-right-left-pause then right-left-right-pause. The basic step is part of many other moves. For example, the leader may dance the basic step while leading the follower to do a turn.

Description

Starting position: Open Position
, Closed Position

Beat-by-beat On1:

Forward and Back

Count	Leader	Follower
1	Step forward on the left foot	Step backward on the right foot
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2	Replace the weight on the right foot	Place your weight on the left foot (usually remaining in the same spot)
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3	Step back with your left foot back to the original position	Step forward with your right foot back to the original position
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4	Pause	Pause
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5	Step backward with your right foot	Step forward with your left foot
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6	Replace the weight on the left foot (remaining in the same position)	Replace the weight on the right foot (without changing the position of the feet)
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7	Step forward with your right foot (back to the original position)	Step backward with your left foot (back to the original position)
	Optional styling	Optional styling
8	Pause	Pause
	Optional styling	Optional styling

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