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Congresses, Competitions, and Collaborative Events
Click here for Congresses and Competitions
Click here for a listing of Casino Rueda Groups World-Wide
Click here to read about Collaborative Rueda events.
Congresses and Competitions
Casino Rueda is coming into its own. Increasingly, there are Congresses and major events where it is represented! Here is information on a few such events:
NOTE: Check out the Miami Salsa Congress this year which is in early August! That will be a fun event and it would be great if a number of us from the DC area can go!
1. "Dance Rueda"|
This event is a little different than a traditional Congress. Ramses Padilla Alvarez, a Cuban man now living in Canada, and his wife Debbie, sponsor this event in Vancouver. For the 2005 year, in addition to having a competition at the event, there was a Mega-class with several instructors including myself each teaching a few moves----quite an original concept! I taught Thalia and an extension of that step, along with Enroque in the Mega-class. The photo here shows me demonstrating Thalia in this workshop. Thalia is a great step, with quick turns for the lady in alternating directions and a twist as she moves across the man into the turns. At the end there is a sort of "optical illusion" created where the hands are very inter-twined and you release them, creating the effect of having unknotted them. It's very cool, and there is more information on this move on the step description page. Enroque has an unusual manuver where you quickly change the point of contact from the woman's shoulder to her wrist and then unwind her. This same manuver can be found in the move Registrala--that is the only other place I've ever seen it! There is also a photo below from the competition, which was the highlight of the event. The three judges including myself and the organizers did some serious conferring (as you can see!) since the scores were very close. The results were finally announced and one of the teams from Vancouver won. The website for this event is: www.dancerueda.com To read more about this event, click here Also, note that the last Cuba Baila will be April 19 and 20th, 2008. To
register and be part of Cuba Baila, contact info@dancerueda.com or call
778.688.9686 in Vancouver, Canada. Accommodations have been arranged at Holiday
Inn Downtown Vancouver, Canada 1110 Howe St, Vancouver, BC, Tel:604-684-2151.
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Above: Teaching Thalia at the workshop |
Above: Three judges confer with the organizers of the "Dance Rueda" competition
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2. Miami's Salsa Rueda Congress This event, held first in November of 2004, and then in all subsequent Novembers, is sponsored by Henry Herrera of SalsaRacing and Billy Fajardo. Many of the Miami giants were there (including Rene Gueits of Salsa Lovers and others)----teaching, performing, etc. It's great to see the groups intermingle in Rueda circles. Click here to read an article about this unique Congress, including a description of the competitions, the workshops and the overall experience. I also judged this competition the first two years, which was a great experience! The website is: www.salsaruedacongress.com |
 Above: You go girls! This is the all women's team that won the Rueda competition at the Rueda Congress in Miami, 11/05 |
Above: Judging the Salsa Rueda Congress competition in Miami
Above: Six Rueda teachers from all over the country pose after chatting about their
classes by the hotel pool at the 2006 Rueda Congress in Miami
Above: Rueda teachers Barb, Simona, and Duane pose after having lunch together at the 2006
Rueda Congress in Miami
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3. Miami Salsa Congress The Miami Salsa Congress is another annual event with lots of Salsa and Casino Style instruction. This is sponsored by Rene Gueits of Salsa Lovers Studio. It's generally in early August, and in 2007, it will be the first weekend in that month. All the details are available at this site: www.MiamiSalsaCongress.com. There are many great workshops and dynamite performances at the event. In 2005, they "unofficially" broke the World Record for the Largest Rueda Circle which was a kick! (See photos on this page and go to www.bigrueda.com for the names of those who participated and for more information.) Rene brings in good teachers and performers, and this Congress is well worth attending. To read an article about the 2005 Congress, click here In 2005, a group of us went to this Congress and I went again in 2007. I was one of the workshop teachers at this 2007 Congress, and my women's team performed there that year!
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 Above: At the 2005 Miami Salsa Congress, a group of Rueda dancers gather informally by the hotel pool and Glen teaches them La Cuadra |
 Above: This DanceInTime team performed August, 2007 at the Miami Salsa Congress!
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4. Washington D.C. Salsa Congress
This event was sponsored by Shaka Brown and David Melendez for the first time in June, 2005 in D.C. It was quite successful and became an annual event. Many groups came in from out of town and there were special presentations that closed the evening are were dynamite. DanceInTime has performed at each of the first three Congresses, and so do many other local groups!
To read an article about this event, click here
Above: Some members
of the women's team from DanceInTime perform at the D.C. Congress, 6/05
Photo courtesy of GreatDance/Stuck on Salsa
Above: DanceInTime poses after performing at the D.C. Salsa Congress, 6/10/07
Above: This DanceInTime team performed August, 2007 at the D.C. Salsa Congress!
4. Puerto Rico Congress
To see a great video
click here
To see Barb teaching a class at the Puerto Rico Congress,
click here.
Anne leads Rita at the DanceInTime performance in Puerto Rico 7/08
DanceInTime performing in Puerto Rico. 7/08
DanceInTime dancing at the Puerto Rico Congress. 7/08
5. D.C. Rueda Fiesta
This party which is held in the spring time blends the DC area Rueda groups for performing and open dancing. Below is a video clip of the effort in 2007 to break DC's record for the largest local Rueda circle.
Click here to see the big rueda circle we made
Rueda Around the World
Some years ago, I started a website, CasinoRuedaConnection.com, to focus on collaborative efforts among Rueda groups and enable teachers and students to be in contact with each other. The site has some photos and videos of events I was involved with where a number of groups came together, as well as information on Congresses, etc. There is also a list on that site of all the Casino Rueda teachers/groups throughout the world that I am aware of. This is a little different than other listings of Salsa class and club information that I have seen. Since teachers' venues often change, and the number of Rueda groups is relatively finite, I have listed the teachers or groups with websites or contact information. I did not attempt to provide information on where and when classes are held. You can follow the contact information and get up to date information directly from the teacher or contact person listed if you are visiting somewhere and want to know where you can dance Rueda.
I would love to make this listing as complete as possible, so if you are reading this and teach Rueda anywhere in the world and aren't listed, please contact me. I need only the city/cities and state if U.S. and country where you teach along with a website and/or contact information for the teacher or group. And thanks for helping to make this information a rich resource!
One more thing: Two Rueda de Casino teachers from out west have traveled to Cuba and filmed a wonderful documentary on the dance. Barb Bernstein prepared an Epilogue to this film, which has the theme of how the dance has spread all over the world. So below are some photos of Rueda dancers from different corners of the globe. My thanks to these individuals and groups for their contribution to this documentary. These photos, and more, as well as videos from dancers all over the world can be seen on the documentary. For more information, including how to order, you can write to saritastreng@yahoo.com. Also, if you visit the "Documentary Film" page on this site, there is further information on the film and the many contributors!
Above: Rueda dancers Inma and Jose from Salsa sin Fronteras in the Cadiz
province of Spain
Above: Rueda dancers from the Nippori Salud group in Tokyo, Japan.
Above: Another Rueda group, called Sol Caliente, from both Nagoya and Tokyo,
Japan.
Above: Rueda dancers Ana and Leonel from Caracas, Venezuela.