Ballroom Blitz #078

Cucarachas in Rumba - Oct 23, 2023

Transcript

Ian: Why hello there random dancer on the internet. My name's Ian,

Lindsey: and my name's Lindsey,

Ian & Lindsey: and this is a Ballroom Blitz!

Lindsey: Hello dancers and welcome back to another Ballroom Blitz. We're in the Latin world today and we're going to be dancing a move in the Rumba it is called the Cucaracha. Now, you can do Cucarachas on either foot we'll be showing you both today. The idea is that Cucaracha means cockroach, and the idea is that you're squishing cockroaches. So, not a great image, but it actually helps us with the move and it's a much better looking move than the story.

(demonstration without music)

Lindsey: So, you can see here that I've got my feet together, it needn't be the case, but we want our weight definitely on one foot ready to go on the other. So at the moment my weight is on my left, I'm ready to go on my right. I'm going to take the step out to the side. I'm not going to bring all of my weight over it, it's just partial weight, and I'm going to roll my hips around, rock back to that original foot, close my feet, and that will give me an opportunity to do the same thing on my left. So, I take my left to the side, don't quite bring my weight all around it, the hips roll around I settle back onto my right, close my left to right.

(demonstration with counts)

Lindsey: Now, you saw me demonstrate the Cucaracha to the side but it can actually go in different directions depending on what is needed. So I can do that Cucaracha action a little bit forward or a little bit backward, whatever is needed for that particular step.

Now, you can do this move just as a move in and of itself with both parties performing the Cucaracha, but you'll also see it, usually the leader doing a Cucaracha move, as they guide their follower into possibly something a little bit more complex. With a little bit more movement it helps the leader essentially stay on the spot but keep up with that Rumba rhythm, keep their hips moving and look like they are still dancing, even though they're providing a support role for the followers fancier steps.

(demonstration with music)

Lindsey: And that's all there is to the Cucaracha so try it out, it's a great one to keep that lovely Latiny rhythm get the hips moving in a slightly different way. So try it out, have some fun with it, we'll see you next time.