Tomorrow April 17, 2008 is the last day to get discount tickets in advance
For Discount Advance Ticket Sales and More Information go to http://www.oohsalsa.com/DCSalsaRuedaCongress.php
 

FRIDAY APRIL 18
The Salsa Room - Virginia (DC)
Beg Rueda 7:30 - 8:30 pm Amanda Gil

Int Rueda 8:30 - 9:30 pm Ernesto/SAOCO

Open Dancing 9:00 - 1:00am Sin Miedo/DJs

Performances 11:00 -11:30pm Dance Teams (SAOCO)

Open Dancing 11:30 - close Sin Miedo/DJs

Xanadu - Baltimore
Rueda 7:30 - 8:30 pm Barb Bernstein

Salsa on 2 8:30 - 9:30 pm Shaka

Open Dancing 9:00 - 1:00am DJ

Performances 10:30 - 10:50 Dance Teams

Open Dancing 10:50 - close DJ

SATURDAY APRIL 19
GLEN ECHO in the Spanish Ballroom
Instructor /Class 1 Instructor/Class 2
Workshops 6:10 - 7:00pm Steve Denlinger Amanda Gil
Rueda - Int Rueda - Int/adv

Workshops 7:10 - 8:00 pm Shaka Brown (NY) Christopher Rogicki
Salsa on 2 Rueda - Advanced

Workshops 8:10 - 9:00 pm Keith Givens Ernesto Reyes (SAOCO)
Salsa on 1 Rueda - Beg

Open Dancing 9:00 - 9:50pm La Sensual/DJ Reyna

Performance show 9:50 - 10:20 Dance Teams

Open Dancing 10:20 - 10:50 La Sensual

The Big Rueda 10:50 - 11:20 Rueda Callers

Open Dancing 11:20 - 11:50 La Sensual

Open Dancing 11:50 - 12:20 DJ Reyna Timba

Open Dancing 12:20 - 1:00 La Sensual/DJ Reyna

Welcome to StuckOnSalsa's"
Casino Rueda" Page!

Info provided by StuckOnSalsa Casino Rueda Correspondent Barbara Bernstein

Barbara Bernstein in  the middle is the new SOS Casino Rueda correspondent

Given the recent spread of popularity of Casino Rueda dancing, StuckOnSalsa has added this page in an effort to make the Salsa information provided as complete as possible. 

If you are interested in specific topics concerning Casino Rueda, you can click on the appropriate links below.  

Below that is a short description of the dance, along with a brief, historical synopsis of how it developed, and photos and Rueda video clips.

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Click here for a syllabus of Casino Rueda moves.

Click here for information on using Casino Rueda moves in one on one  Salsa.

Click here for an article about the annual Salsa Rueda Congress in Miami.

Click here for tips on good technique in executing Rueda moves.

Click here for information on ganging the moves (i.e. "splicing" them together).
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         How it all began.......

During the 1950s, a dance craze called Casino Rueda became popular in Cuba.  The term "Casino" comes from the name of the social club where the dance began. That club was called El Casino Deportivo. "Rueda" means wheel or circle. It is a type of salsa dancing done by a group in a circle, with partners being passed around. This wildly popular dance was done everywhere in Cuba---in the streets, in parking lots, in clubs, in homes.

The moves to this dance are numerous and can be very complex. The dance is done by two or more couples who do the moves in synchrony. A member of the circle calls the moves for everyone to execute. Each move has a name and most have hand signals since it is hard to hear in noisy nightclubs. Moves can be called in quick succession, and along with frequent partner exchanges, this creates a very dynamic and exciting atmosphere for everyone involved.

The group nature of the dance is unique and makes it quite social. A group consciousness develops to make the rueda work well---with everyone watching the leader for the calls. Dancers have to open up their sphere of awareness far beyond what is necessary for ordinary partner dancing. Whether you are dancing or watching, it is thrilling when a rueda circle works well and flows smoothly!!

Salsa/rueda is related to the ballroom dance Mambo. Mambo is always danced "on two" and the moves are sharp. In mambo, you essentially hold still on beat one. In salsa you continue to glide through the beat even when you are not taking a step and can dance on either 1 or 2. There is a more fluid, undulating feeling to salsa--like an ocean wave.

Casino Rueda, a group form of Salsa, was brought to Miami by Cuban immigrants and took hold there in the l970s and l980s. From Miami, it spread first to major U.S. metropolitan centers with large Hispanic populations and eventually to other cities as well.

The movie "Dance with Me" has a segment of Rueda dancing which helped poplularize the dance in this country. In recent years, Casino Rueda has swept the world.  The joyful spirit of this dance has made it popular just about everywhere--from Israel to Alaska, from North and South America to Europe, Australia, and beyond. Groups of Salsa dancers assemble in classes, clubs, and conventions all over the globe to teach, practice, and perform beautiful Casino Rueda moves done in a circle!  What began simply in a Cuban social club, quickly became a world-wide dance phenomenon!

 
The picture above is from "Dance with Me"--the movie that popularized Casino Rueda in this country.  (I literally know someone who now teaches Rueda and told me he saw the movie and immediately "knew" in his heart that he wanted to become a teacher of that dance!  This was before he knew what the name of the dance was!!)



To see a video clip of traditional Casino Rueda dancing (performed on 4/4/06 for Fox 5 New's coverage of DanceInTime), click here.

To see video clips of a choreographed Rueda presentation, click on the links below.  This is video of the women's team from DanceInTime depicting a slave rebellion to the song "Rebelion." (That is the Spanish spelling of "rebellion"--it's not a typo!)  
Click here to see the first clip of this routine. Click here to see the second clip of this routine. Click here to see the third clip of this routine.

To read an article by Barb Bernstein that was published in a dance magazine about Casino Rueda, click here.

Interested in information on where you can take classes?  Go to: http://danceintime.com/classes.htm.

Copyright 2002 by DanceInTime.