In Cuba, the people used to get together in large halls, called ‘Casinos’ hence the name. The people invented a new casino dance, using popular dance steps of the time, danced as a group in a circle or wheel. It started out in the 1950’s at the Casino Deportivo in Havana.

Rueda is a synchronised cuban group dance with constantly exchanging dance partners. “Casino Rueda” or “Salsa Rueda” are English versions of the correct name, due to the fact that the grammatical structure of English is a bit backwards from Spanish! Rueda de Casino is the correct name in Spanish. The man constantly moves around the woman in a circular dynamic, checking her out and showing her off. The name stuck, so don’t be confused when a Cuban invites you to go out dancing ‘casino’ you’re off to the salsa club!!Ĭuban style salsa differs from the north american salsa styles in that it is ‘circular’ rather than linear. The gambling haunts had the money to bring in the big name bands, so that’s where people would go to dance.Ĭome the revolution, the casinos were closed, and the people started to dance ‘casino’ style in the local community halls. In the decadent days of Old Havana, all the action in town was going down at the Casinos. Reggae, rap and hip hop have a huge following in Cuba, and the timba musicians love to play with those rhythms, and intertwine them into their salsa.Ĭuban dancers have a lot of fun at these times – they pull back from a close embrace and launch into rhythmic middle body shudders and amazing buttock trembles ‚ all movements derived from afro-cuban rumba.Ĭubans call their salsa dance style ‘casino’. The other feature of cuban timba is that it often blends other rhythms into the breaks. The backing vocalists keep the standard response running while the lead vocalist improvises. Songs will often follow a traditional rumba structure – start slow, break into a core salsa rhythm, then settle into a beautiful call and response vocal pattern. It’s a fast tempo salsa with a strong afro-cuban influence.

The contemporary salsa sound coming out of Cuba is called timba.

Difference between on2 and casino salsa