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The Sacadas
Once students know basic steps and ochos, we teach to use them as tools to make figures.
We approach a figure which comes out from the folloer's cruzada. When the follower goes forwards with the right foot, the leader makes it turn in a continuing movement. So, the follower will resort to movement structure of sideward step to follow the movement sequence to the direction proposed by the leader.
After the cruzada, the follower will begin the path with a forward crossing, followed by an opening with the left leg and a backward crossing with the right leg, in a round way and completing a triangle with the support points.
With this prevision, the leader can take advantage of the situation to look for the follower's feet and put them just at the same level, to replace the support with the own and achieve the effect of a sacada (a pull out).
The leader starts firstly with the left leg, framing a 'T' in relation with the follower's foot, and then goes on with the right leg (enclosed inward) and finally with the left leg (enclosed inward) to place itself sideward to the dancing floor and to exit from the follower's side up to the crossing.
One thing is the visual effect and another is what we are actually doing. If the leader rests the left foot besides the follower's left foot just at the moment it leaves this support point to look for the next step, it will seem as if it were left aside even when it was not touched. It is like a support replacement, the follower's for the leader's. It must happen at the same time so it can seem that the leader's foot makes the follower to take the foot.
From the beginning to the end of the figure performance, we use one beat of music for each movement.