SalsaEurope.com

By Lautaro Arino, Bailattelo Dance Academy Zurich 

The Guaguancó, as a dance, is similar to the Yambú when it comes to the more basic dance steps. The style is tougher and sharper. Guaguancó can be seen as a parody of the sexual game between the man and the women. The woman dances in a seductive fashion, trying to lure the man into trying to conquer her, with the intention of rejecting him when he tries, and so showing her domination. The man on the other hand, will try and catch her by surprise by being faster then she can react. This happens by the man executing a dance movement called “Vacunado” (in Cuba, pronounced “Vacunao”), which literally means “injection”. The actual translation should be “penetration” (you KNOW what it refers to! Don’t make me have to explain it!).

The typical Vacunado is a thrusting pelvis movement towards the woman, where the sexual symbolism is obvious. This is all improvised and the woman does not know when it will happen. The woman covers her pelvis with her skirt or hand and usually shows very theatrically that there will be no entry (by for example waiving her finger in a “no-no” fashion).

After the man has attempted a Vacunado the two dancers will usually stop dancing and engage in a short theatrical part where they may walk around, circling each other, both expressing to the audience that they were the fastest one.

There are no judges in Guaguancó, and there is no point thinking about who was the fastest, it is simply for entertainment and expression.

The way the man executes the Vacunado and the way the women covers her are subject to improvisation. The man will try and show off by the intricate ways he can do a Vacunado, maybe by trying to first act like his attention is somewhere and then quickly turning towards the woman executing the Vacunado, or by doing some elaborate and fast footwork to make the Vacunado more sudden. The woman will show her superiority by dancing beautifully, opening herself to an attack and then closing when the man attacks, or maybe even turning her back to him like saying “Im so good that I don’t even have to look at you to know when you will attack”.

 For more info on rumba and the other rumba styles, as well as videos, see http://www.bailattelo.ch .

Lautaro Arino.