Importance of Cascara

So many timing discussions in salsa revolve around clave and tumbao, that often I feel like as dancers, we never focus on the cascara pattern. I saw this great video on what is one of my favorite rhythms in latin music:



As you can see/hear the cascara pattern can not only tell you tempo and time, but also which side of the clave you're on, even if the clave isn't there. Here is again (ignore the guy's pronunciation):



so this is the the musical notation looks like the cascara pattern in 3/2 son clave:



or in 2/3 rumba clave



It's my favorite, and you'll often hear it played on the side of the timbales (cascara) or the cowbell, with a distinct the distinct accent on the second beat (2/3 clave), which is one more reason to dance on2.

Thanks to http://www.formedia.ca/rhythms/3stick.html for the pics...