Latin Chain: Five Dance Basics in Ten Minutes

A solo warm-up that chains the basics of merengue, bachata, cumbia, salsa and cha-cha, one short clip per style with rising intensity. It gets the body going and reviews the rhythms before a social dance session.

How to play

1. Merengue: march in place and travel with arm movements (2 min).
2. Bachata: side basic with the tap on 4 (2 min).
3. Cumbia: alternating back step with a gentle turn (2 min).
4. Salsa: forward-and-back basic and a solo guapea (2 min).
5. Cha-cha: basic with chassé, finishing with shoulder and hip mobility (2 min).

Rules

• Dance solo with an arm's length of space.
• Each student adjusts range and speed to their level.
• If you get lost, go back to marching and rejoin.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: does each basic with the arms, shoulders and torso from the wheelchair.
• Hearing impairment: a sign with the style's name and count is shown at each change.
• Ankle injury: marks the steps with weight on both feet and no turns.

Learning goals

• Raise body temperature gradually and in a fun way.
• Review the basics of the Latin dances covered.
• Tell apart the rhythm of each style.

Equipment for a class of 25

• speaker: 1

Teacher tip

Put together a mix with clips of about two minutes. It works to open any session in the unit.

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