At the end of the 1970s, Rueda de Casino groups became well-known through the popular TV show "Para Bailar".
Rueda de Casino began to slowly make its way into the Miami salsa community during the Mariel boatlift,[2] and in the late 1980s and early 1990s it experienced an enormous explosion of popularity.
[4] From Miami, Rueda de Casino spread first to major U.S. metropolitan centers with large Hispanic populations and eventually to other cities, becoming a popular dance around the United States and the world.
After the initial couples (pairs of dancers) form a circle, dance moves are then called out by one person, a caller (or "líder" or "cantante" in Spanish).
When danced socially, the order or sequence of the moves in a Rueda de Casino is completely improvised by the caller, so the dancers have to pay close attention.
Traditionally, the names of the moves are called mostly in Spanish, regardless of the country where the dance occurs, although some words can be in English (or Spanglish; e.g., "un fly").
There are different hand motions that the caller can use to indicate a specific Rueda move, especially in case one's voice cannot be heard over loud music.
For example, the hand signal for the Rueda move "Sombrero" (i.e., the Spanish word for "hat") is the caller tapping the top of his or her head.