The Midwest Casino Rueda Exchange

With 5 instructors in 1 circle, anything can happen! So, join us November 7th for a special casino rueda exchange. We will start this 4 hour bootcamp with an hour review of the fundamentals of casino rueda so that new and experienced casineros can both join the circle. Then we will dive into new patterns and rueda structures with 5 great instructors located all over the Midwest and East coast. Each instructor will be teaching some of their favorite rueda moves from their hometowns of Bloomington, IN, Cincinnati, OH, Louisville, KY, Boston, MA, and Nashville, TN. We hope to learn from one another, and share our love for casino rueda with you. Later that evening, join us for our Havana Nights Dance Party with performances by The Ville Casineras and Nashville Rueda. Prices: $40 Full Pass (includes the 4 hour bootcamp, party and performances) or $10 Party Cover (includes party and performances only) Schedule and Venues: 4-Hour Casino Rueda Workshop Miss Fit Academy 265 Hermitage Avenue Nashville, TN 1pm-5pm Havana Nights Dance Party 404 Bar & Grill 404 Elysian Fields Road Nashville, TN 9pm-2am Instructor Bios are below: Maria Van Hoff: Maria has been teaching rueda de casino and partner casino for over 6 years with Ritmos Latinos Indiana club in Bloomington, IN. She was first exposed to rueda de casino through Ritmos, and since 2010 had been expanding her knowledge of Cuban dance and music traveling to festivals in San Francisco and Atlanta and learning from various U.S. and Cuban instructors. Since 2012 she's been actively involved with organizing the annual workshop bringing top casino instructors to Bloomington and Midwest salsa community. She directed 2 choreographies by Ritmos Latinos performance team in 2014. In the last few years Maria has also been spreading her love of timba and Cuban music by DJ-ing at Ritmos parties. Kendra Lucas: Kendra Lucas is a latin dance instructor, choreographer, and performer based in Nashville, TN. She has been performing and teaching since 2009. Her casino rueda team Nashville Rueda, has participated in numerous Latin festivals across the southeast including Atlanta, Huntsville, Memphis, and Knoxville. Last year, she choreographed for the competitive team Music City Salsa which qualified and participated in the 2014 World Latin Dance Cup in Miami. She loves all styles of salsa and latin dances and specializes in casino rueda, afro-cuban, LA style salsa, bachata, and chachacha. Megan Sparks: Megan is co founder and creative director of the the Ville Casineras, an all ladies casino rueda team based in Louisville, KY. She has been dancing casino for over 5 years, and has studied with various instructors in Havana, Cancún, and Mexico City. Jeff Link: Jeff is a Cuban dance instructor who specializes in Casino and Rueda de Casino. He has been dancing, teaching and performing Casino for 8 years with teams from Atlanta, Detroit and Austin. He now resides in Cincinnati where he created his Cuban dance company, Bembe' Cincinnati, 2 years ago. Jeff's company primarily focuses on Casino dancing with the idea that all motion should be forward and circular to match the beats and rhythm of Cuban music. Jose Barretto: Jose is the director of Boston Rueda, and the creator of the Serious About Rueda Alliance between Norway, Slovakia, Montreal, New York, and now Nashville. He is passionate about learning and teaching new rueda structures like rueda llanta and rueda trébol. He had also traveled internationally to Hungary, Slovakia, Norway, and many other European countries to study rueda. We are so excited that he will be coming to Nashville this November!