There has always been a great deal of controversy over how Cuban motion should be taught and danced. There is the American style of hip action, the International style of hip action and the Afro-Cuban style of hip action.
Without proper Cuban motion, one will never look or feel great. If you are learning Cha Cha and you want to fall in love with the dance, Cuban motion needs to be done properly.
Learning proper Cuban motion isn’t easy. It is one of the most difficult skills for a dancer to acquire. It will take many hours of practice. The motion is beautiful, but few have the patience to accomplish it. Most dancers want instant success. They want learning to dance to be fun and easy. They have no idea of the discipline required to become a good dancer, nor are they ready early on to accept the challenge.
Once a few basic steps have been mastered, the dancer should start learning proper Cuban motion. It will become very difficult to incorporate the patterns and motion if the dancer waits too long. The cuban walk originated in the sugar cane fields of Cuba. The island people balanced large, heavy bundles or baskets on their heads as they walked. It was expedient to move the head at a constant level. Pieces of cane on the ground were sharp and could cut the bare feet. So the natives learned to check the ground by stepping without weight, initially, and if not feeling any sharpness, take the weight. This type of weight transfer extended naturally over into their natural walk which made it easy to move the hips without tiring or causing any discomfort, so they were able to dance in this manner for hours. Thus Cuban motion came into being.
Cuban Motion is a natural movement of the hips, used in all Latin Rhythm dances. It consists of a continual movement of the hips initiated by stepping on the inside edge of the foot while the upper part of the body remains motionless, like the movement of the pendulum. It is a smooth and subtle motion.
Practice by standing in place and marking time or shifting weight. Pick a foot off the floor and set it down placing it on the inside edge and transferring weight. Now pick up the other foot and set it down placing it on the inside edge and transferring weight. Notice how the hips move on their own, horizontally. All of the movement starts from the center (the rib-cage) with the pelvic girdle playing a major part in the smooth execution of the hip action.
Next try moving forward or backward using the same format. You’ll note it is almost opposite of the way you normally walk. There should always be a softness in the knees; make sure you do not lock the knees. As you step forward on the left foot, the right hip is out; as you step forward on the right foot, your left hip is out (law of opposites).
The next step is to go sideward. Once accomplished, put it all together and do the Cha Cha basic pattern.
The most common errors are: stepping flat footed, bending both knees at the same time, trying to get the hip action through the knees, and throwing the hips around. The hip action comes with the belated transference of weight using the inside edge of the foot.
–Taken from articles from Anthony S. Natale, Laurie Hale, Felix Chaves, Art Kalmer and Kelly Gellette. Reprinted from the Down East Dancer’s Newsletter
