Merengue Dance Lesson 4: Inside Turn and Cuddle

In this lesson we learn the inside turn for the follower. The follower turns to the left. To lead this pattern the leader lifts his left hand to the follower’s shoulder height and rotates it counterclockwise around her head. After raising the hand, the leader transitions his fingers to inside of her hands and point to his right. This is the direction of the turn. One hint is to note that the hands travel between the faces.

The follower keeps her frame as described in lesson 2 while the leader slowly rotates his hand around her head.

The cuddle is very similar to the inside turn except the leader continues to hold the followers left hand with his right as she turns to her left. This way she becomes wrapped up in his arms on his right side. It takes 4 beats to wrap her up and 4 beats to unwrap her. To unwrap her he simply raises his left hand and circles it around her head clockwise as she turns to her right.