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If that works for you, then great! Just be aware that you (and the other rumba newcomers in this thread who think they have discovered the One Truth about rumba and can therefore shortcut years of learning) are not just picking another method of teaching. You're picking a method which goes in...

Another clip with the subtle muelleo -- springiness in the knees -- from one of the Aspirinas mentioned above as an example of zero muelleo (I assume it's one of them -- I don't know the Aspirinas personally so I don't know if the vid description is accurate or if it's maybe the name of this...

To me, vit sums it up pretty well. Yes, I do indeed think that this very subtle, barely perceptible muelleo/"springiness" counts as muelleo. And I think that is exactly the reason muelleo is so difficult to accomplish and do well. Everyone fixates on the big bounce when it is really quite...

Also about the mechanics of the muelleo -- in a fast guaguanco the raising of the heel generates the motion and accounts for a good part of the muelleo look -- but once the hell goes down, the knees follow through and bend slightly, which gives you the full muelleo (which I also do in my video)...

I am actually doing the muelleo, but my definition may not match yours. Muelleo is springiness -- a constant springy bounce in the knees. There is also a bit of weight going up and down, though due to the geometry of the body motion when the muelleo is small the head barely moves. This is not...

:) thanks. The point isn't to get an answer from YD (from the first moment I noted his inconsistent post history, I figured he was either YM or a surrogate) -- I'm genuinely interested in discussing the issue and hearing others' thoughts. The truth is, while I knew not everybody does a...

Here's my vid. Sorry about the bad sound quality and the lighting -- I didn't have time this week to shoot this at our studio. I'm not a rumba master, nor do I claim to be.This vid reflects my best understanding after years of study with a series of Cuban pros (including a year spent studying...

Wait, @YourDaddy, so are you a beginner dancer or an expert -- which is it? The videos seem to be typical of Yoel Marrero's approach to dance -- which is to pick one (admittedly decent) approach and say everything else is wrong or obsolete. The big up-and-down dancing bear-like muelleo is...

Wait, I'm a bit confused. . . just the other day you posted a thread saying you are looking to learn Latin dance and that you are a complete beginner and that salsa looks too complicated. . . but you are a rumba expert? Or was that a joke thread? Many rumberos do indeed dance with hardly any...

Re. the heels -- I've been taught both ways (acceptable vs not). I do lift my heels as part of the moelle a lot of the time, especially in the traveling basic (the step Alberto Valdes calls marco abre -- marco cierra). But the heels aren't even the most crucial part of the muelleo. There are...

Actually, Dionisio (the teacher in the first video) does do the muelleo in the first video you posted! It's subtle, as it should be, but it's very clearly there. It's a light sort of springy bounce in the knees. (Dionisio was one of my first rumba teachers in Cuba years ago, although I only took...

There are certainly many opportunist "dance teachers" in Cuba who're frankly bad at salsa and have no business teaching anyone. . . Then there are many highly skilled and dedicated individuals who simply dance & teach salsa the (nontraditional) way they like. Which has very little to do with...

Exactly this is my problem with what you're saying. There is no one "real Cuban dance". What Havana's dance teachers are teaching -- many of them my friends, genuine dance fanatics, who would be offended to be called opportunists (they are trying to make a living like anyone else) -- is real...

If this is something you feel about strongly, I'd try to work out a way to spend extended time in Cuba, get firsthand experience of the way salsa is danced on the island, and talk to a wide range of people who have been witness to these changes in Cuban dance style. Even then, I would be careful...

This is a very typical video of how a great many people dance in Havana today. . . and a very far cry from the traditional circular casino of the purists. Which is why I can appreciate the aesthetic preferences of the purists but don't buy the "one and correct way" philosophy. Cuban salsa is a...

AFAIK, the term is "muelleo", which comes from "muelle", "spring". It refers to a springiness in the knees, most often taught as a light bounce, and it is absolutely essential to virtually all Afro-Cuban dance (rumba, Yoruba, arara, palo, etc, etc). There are different types of muelleo...

One of my all-time favorites:

One can't (shouldn't?) argue with cultists.

Check your PM. Btw my favorite casino dancer, at least visually, is Yoandy -- and despite lots of cool body movement he leads a fairly traditional casino. In most of his videos that I've seen, his followers (students) don't step back much. But here the excellent Diana Rodriguez does step back...

Heh, and actually, turns out I have a vid of your #1 favorite Osmel (el animador) leading plenty of backsteps ;) he is an awesome dancer but very very far from a traditional casinero. In fact, he's one of the most unorthodox dancers in Havana.