The setenta pass is one of the best-known passes in Cuban salsa (or Cuban casino), and can be performed in an infinite number of variations and possibilities.
The name « setenta », a number which translates from Spanish as 70, probably comes from the decade of the 70s, when this emblematic pass was widely practised.
The setenta is not complicated to perform, but is poorly taught in many Latin dance schools, so it loses its charm in a number of details.
Outline of the setenta in Cuban salsa
This pass may seem complicated to beginners, but it’s simply made up of the fundamental Cuban salsa passes you’ll learn in introductory-level dance classes, as we’ll break it down for you in the chapter on the key steps of the setenta.
In terms of movement and content, the setenta (seventy) can be performed in two ways:
- Male/female changeover: simpler for beginners, this allows a better understanding of the mechanics of the pass, as it involves a changeover between the leader and the follower. It’s also simpler for beginners in rueda configuration (casino round), because in rueda there’s a middle and everyone has to be at the same place and time at the end of the pass.
- With many more circular movements: Cuban salsa is a dance in which you walk all the time, you move around, often in a circle, so you can do the setenta with much more movement, without worrying about a simple change of place. During breaks, dance partners « slide » to change direction or orientation.
- Composition: as always, Cuban salsa dance passes are composed of small movements placed end-to-end, in this case: the vacila figure + a small step + a pa’ ti pa’ mi.
Our friend Steven Messina explains it very well in one of his Youtube videos:
The setenta is performed with two hands, but can also be performed in its entirety with one hand, as illustrated in the video at 23 seconds.
Steps in a salsa setenta
The movement of the partners for a setenta, i.e. the feet, is a composition of 3 well-known figures, in this order:
- Vacila: beats 1-2-3.
- (Petite marche): beats 5-6-7.
- Pa’ ti pa’ mi (para ti para mi): beats 1-2-3 (4) 5-6-7, 1-2-3 (4) 5-6-7.
After a guapea (called dile que si in some Latin dance schools), on beat 8 there is a presentation, i.e. the leader (often the man) brings the partner’s right hand forward, or the center of a rueda for example.
1-2-3: pas vacila
Next, the man guides a vacila con la mano (vacila with the hand) with his left hand holding his partner’s right hand. The man’s right hand is presented palm-up to his partner, who places her left hand on it.
The man’s right hand, which has just taken the woman’s left hand, stays low (about waist level) so that the woman’s left elbow can bend naturally into the lower back, as illustrated in vignette temps fort n° 1. This is what’s known as a ” mise en espagnole” :
For the woman, the steps are the same as for a vacila.
5-6-7: walk
The walk allows the partners to continue walking in rotation (Cuban salsa is a walk).
Then, on beat 7 (a very important and sometimes poorly taught beat), the man’s left hand is all the way down, helping the woman to reposition herself (the woman or follower always follows her arm, which must always be in front to be well positioned and avoid shoulder injuries) and indicating the end of a step, so the guidance is very clear.
The partners continue to walk forward.
1-2-3 (4) 5-6-7, 1-2-3 (4) 5-6-7: pas pa’ ti pa’ mi
This is the pa’ ti pa’ mi step, during which the man passes under his own right arm, then the woman passes under her right arm, then into the dilequeno position.
Cuban salsa code: to regain the dilequeno position, the woman takes the man’s right shoulder with her left hand. The follower always goes for the boy’s right shoulder (leader).
To understand pa’ ti pa’ mi, translate « for you, for me », this means that for I go under one arm for you, then you go under one arm for me, each goes under one arm, me, then you.