SalsASTep

Language workbench for the "StepLang" Domain-Specific Language to express salsa (on1, on2, cuban) footwork patterns, written using JetBrains MPS.

You can define two kinds of root nodes in StepLang:

• Choreography: it's the breakdown of a (usually short) step sequence
  • For example, the Salsa On2 Basic Step can be expressed as a Choreography
• CourseSyllabus: it's a collection of choreographies with, hopefully, some common characteristic
  • For example, a collection of Salsa On2 Shines for Beginners can be expressed as a CourseSyllabus

Moreover, it's possible to import choreographies in XML format - take a look at this folder for examples.

The course syllabus and choreographies defined in StepLang can be exported as text, as I've implemented a basic text generator from StepLang to human language.

Showcase

To make a choreography, you can alternate these fundamental actions:

• Step or tap in one direction
• Pause

For example, here's the definition for the On2 Basic Step on the spot:

And here is a demo in MPS:

Moreover, this language workbench provides several quickfixes to make the editing experience as smooth as possible:

Lastly, it also enforces some constraint rules:

Text Generation

More details

The StepLang DSL comes with a set of assumptions and restrictions.

Assumptions:

• Both feet start from a centered position, and they are parallel to each other.

• Every action corresponds to one music count (ie. no syncopated movements are allowed).

• Every movement must refer to the relative position of the corresponding foot.

  • Example: we step forward with the left foot. To get back to the initial position, we must also step backwards with the left.

Constraints:

• You cannot step with the same foot that holds your weight. For instance, it is not allowed to step two consecutive times with the left foot.
  • However, it is allowed to tap and then step with the same foot, as a tap does not change the weight.