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Paseala al Reves

Rueda de Casino walk-and-reverse figure

RuedaLevel: Improver1 min read3 citations

Paseala al Reves is a Rueda de Casino call built from the paseala family: the name is commonly glossed as a walk-her action with an added reverse, and the related call form “Paseala y al Reves” is also attested in teaching material.[1] In rueda, the figure belongs to a called, synchronized circle rather than to a fixed linear slot; multiple couples execute the same named action after a caller’s verbal cue, sometimes aided by hand signs in noisy settings.[2] Mechanically, the leader begins from the casino/guapea frame, keeps the first half as a guided walking passage, then checks the pathway and redirects the follower back through the complementary arc. The rotation is staged rather than whipped: the couple opens about a quarter turn through the first half, reverses through the next half, and finishes with roughly a half-turn of shared reorientation across the whole phrase. The timing remains casino On1 in this card: each partner breaks once per measure, on counts 1 and 5, with the follower’s travel occurring after the break rather than as a count-1 forward break. The call circulates primarily in Cuban rueda and international rueda teaching repertoires, not as a standard named figure in slot-centered LA or New York salsa scenes.[3]

How it's danced

Lead and follow cues

CountCasino On1: two measures, with one break per measure. Leader breaks back left on 1 and back right on 5; follower mirrors with back right on 1 and back left on 5. The walking and reversal occur on the remaining steps of each half: 2-3 and 6-7.

Lead

Casino On1. On 1-2-3, the leader breaks back on the left, recovers, and starts the follower into the paseala walking pathway while opening the couple about a quarter turn. On 5-6-7, the leader breaks back on the right, redirects the follower in the reverse direction without pulling, and closes the shared orientation to roughly a half-turn total by the count-7 landing.

Follow

Casino On1. On 1-2-3, the follower breaks back on the right, recovers, and walks into the guided paseala pathway after the break, allowing about a quarter turn of reorientation. On 5-6-7, the follower breaks back on the left, follows the checked lead back through the reverse arc, and lands on 7 re-facing the leader with roughly a half-turn total exchange across the phrase.

Song timingBest at moderate social casino tempos, about 150-185 bpm. Around 190 bpm and above, the reversal must be smaller and cleaner; large walking arcs become late.

Learn first

Prerequisites

  • Guapea timing
  • Open-hold casino frame
  • Paseala pathway
  • Controlled check-and-redirect lead
  • Rueda caller response

Watch out

Common mistakes

  • Sending the follower forward on count 1 instead of allowing the count-1 back break before travel begins.
  • Treating the reversal as a single whip rather than a two-stage walk, check, and return pathway.
  • Under-rotating the couple so the partners finish short of the shared half-turn reorientation.
  • Pulling the follower through the reverse instead of redirecting from frame and timing.
  • Breaking twice inside one measure rather than once on 1 and once on 5 across the two-measure phrase.

Don't confuse with

Easily confused moves

  • Paseala: the base walking figure without the reverse return.
  • Paseala y al Reves: an attested expanded wording for this same figure, not a separate mechanics card here.
  • Paso cruzado or cruzado: cross-step footwork terms, not regional names for this rueda figure.
  • Cross-body lead: a slot-salsa traveling exchange with different geometry and terminology.

Around the world

Other names

  • Cuba / Cuban rueda

    Paseala al Reves

    Attested Spanish rueda call for the walk-and-reverse figure.

  • International rueda teaching scene

    Paseala y al Reves

    Attested expanded call wording for the same physical idea.

References

  1. 1.Current time information in Cuba.
  2. 2.wikipedia.org
  3. 3.youtube.com

How to cite this article

Choose a style and copy the citation.

APA

Bailar Editorial Team. (2026). Paseala al Reves. Bailar Biblioteca. Retrieved July 4, 2026, from https://getbailar.com/biblioteca/move/rueda-paseala-al-reves

MLA

Bailar Editorial Team. “Paseala al Reves.” Bailar Biblioteca, 2026, getbailar.com/biblioteca/move/rueda-paseala-al-reves. Accessed 4 July 2026.

Chicago

Bailar Editorial Team. “Paseala al Reves.” Bailar Biblioteca. Accessed July 4, 2026. https://getbailar.com/biblioteca/move/rueda-paseala-al-reves.

BibTeX

@misc{bailar-move-rueda-paseala-al-reves, author = {{Bailar Editorial Team}}, title = {{Paseala al Reves}}, year = {2026}, howpublished = {Bailar Biblioteca}, url = {https://getbailar.com/biblioteca/move/rueda-paseala-al-reves}, note = {Accessed: 2026-07-04} }

Editor-in-Chief: Paul Thomas Plawin

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