Ritmos Latinos

Tucsons Student Led Cuban Salsa Dancing Club

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Beginners 2 Class Page

Welcome to Beginners 2, a New Offering !!

Class is 7:30 - 8:45 PM on Wednesday nights at the Henry Koffler Plaza taught by Robert Melikyan and Jackie Cabrera

This year we're celebrating 25 Years of bringing salsa dancing to new and beginner dancers across Tucson. Using this wealth of experience, we've decided to totally revamp our beginner syllabus to bring renewed focus to the fundamentals of dance. This class, Beginners 2 is meant to bridge the sizable gap between our old Beginners syllabus and the expectations of our Intermediate dance classes. This class aims to cement the fundamentals you gained from your beginner class and expand your vocabulary as a dancer. This class will dive deeper into the dancers interplay and response to shifts and hits in the music. We will help you with finding creativity and breaking out of the box of repeating the same moves you're comfortable with. We will have you practiced in dancing in both the Rueda and just with a single partner.

Even if you've completed a beginners class many times with us, we strongly suggest joining this class as a chance to return to your fundamentals and expand upon their applications!

Casineros dancers who have completed level 1 will find this class to be a good fit, though taking Beginners 1 and 2 back to back will be extra useful practice!

Class Syllabus | Weekly Videos | Latin Dancing Opportunities | Resources

Class Syllabus

(Old Syllabus for Reference, New coming soon!)

Weekly Videos (Full Playlist)

Weeks 1 & 2 (Beginner 1 Video Link & Beginner 2 Video Link)

Getting Started in Casino / Rueda de Casino
We begin by understanding the basic timing of the Latin music we dance to. The most applicable sub-genre for our style is Timba, but "salsa" music works as well!

While the music is typically counted in fours (1, 2, 3, 4) per bar or measure, dancers find it more convenient to count in two-bar phrases, consisting of eight beats (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8). This helps us quickly determine which side of the beat our body is on.

Basic Footwork & Counting
When dancing salsa (and many other styles), we typically step (or shift weight) on three out of four beats per bar. Here’s how it works:

If starting with the left foot, step: left, right, left on beats 1, 2, 3, then pause on 4.
On the next beat (beat 5 of the phrase), step with the right foot, then continue left, right on beats 6 and 7, pausing on 8.

Complete Eight-Beat Phrase:
➡ Left, right, left (1, 2, 3), pause (4)
➡ Right, left, right (5, 6, 7), pause (8)

Note: This example is given from the lead’s perspective. For follows, the pattern is simply reversed—starting with the right foot on 1.

A Key Rule to Remember
If in doubt, just shift your weight. If your last step was on the right foot, your next step should be on the left, and vice versa.

Introducing P’al Medio
One of the first variations we introduce is P’al Medio, a simple tap and step pattern that helps dancers find the beat and begin a dance with their partner.

Tap with the inside foot on 1, then step with that same foot on 3 (moving toward the inside of the rueda/couple).
Tap with the outside foot on 5, then step with that same foot on 7 (moving toward the outside of the rueda/couple).

Transitioning to Paso de Son
P’al Medio serves as a smooth transition into Paso de Son, our basic stepping pattern. The key difference is that instead of tapping, you step fully on each beat, filling in the spaces where the taps previously were. This allows for a more fluid movement. (See video for demonstration.)

Moves Covered So Far in Beginner 1 (See Video for Example/Description):

Camina & Caminamos Pa’atrás
[Dame un] Tarro & [Dame un] Tarro Sin Soltar ("Dame un" is sometimes omitted when calling the move)
Vuelta al Mundo
Gírala

Moves Covered So Far in Beginner 2 (See Video for Example/Description):