Salsa Setenta Moderno

Salsa Setenta Moderno is a modern variation of the Setenta — "seventy" — one of the foundational partner figures of Cuban-style salsa (casino) and a signature pattern of its circle form, the Rueda de Casino.^[1] Like the base move, it is a travelling turn built on a shared back-break that opens the dancing slot and sends the follower through it before the couple recovers a face-to-face position; the "Moderno" reworkings keep that back-break logic while updating the arm path and travel.

Danced on the standard On1 timing, the leader initiates a left-back break on count 1, opening the slot about a quarter-turn as the follower mirrors with a right-back break on the same count. Across counts 2–3 the leader steps forward onto the right foot to add a further quarter-turn, so the couple has rotated roughly 180° by the end of the first measure. The follower then travels forward through the opened slot on counts 5–6, turning about 90° into the slot on count 5 and about 90° back toward the leader on count 7 to re-orient face to face. Breaks fall on counts 1 and 5, with travel carried across the intervening counts.

The move sits within a broader Setenta family. Its closest relatives include Setenta y Uno Moderno, in which the follower is led behind the leader's back with the arms crossed, and Setenta y Cinco Moderno — both extensions of the base Setenta (70), which ranks among the first real figures taught in casino and recurs across studio syllabi of Cuban-salsa vocabulary. Historically, Setenta Moderno took shape in late-1990s On1 scenes and circulated outward — into Los Angeles On1 clubs and, later, Cuban-influenced Cali salsa, where it is treated as a giro rápido ("fast turn"), the name echoing the Spanish setenta for the move's rapid, near-full rotation.

Regional naming conventions for Setenta Moderno usually retain the English-derived term, with few distinct local names; some scenes keep "Setenta Moderno" while others substitute a local descriptor.^[1]