Bembe Cincinnati Cuban Masters Series W/ Rueda Con Ritmo

Bembe' Cincinnati is extremely excited to bring Rueda con Ritmo to Cincinnati to kick off our Epic 12 month Cuban Masters Series! Ryan and Sidney are co-directors of the group, Rueda con Ritmo, out of San Francisco. They are master dancers, performers and instructors and are the most genuine and friendly people you could meet. Ryan Mead is co-director and co-founder of Rueda Con Ritmo. Ryan has been teaching Cuban Salsa and Rueda de Casino since 2005, and he has taught and performed across the United States, and internationally in Cuba, Mexico, Canada, and New Zealand. Besides being a dancer, Ryan has been a percussionist since he was eight years old. As both dancer and musician, Ryan is uniquely positioned to illuminate the inextricable connection between dance and music. Aside from his creativity as a choreographer, he is perhaps best known by lovers of Cuban dance and music for innovating a vocabulary of rhythmic calls and steps to aid dancers in the understanding and interpretation of Cuban music. Sidney Weaverling is co-director and co-founder of Rueda Con Ritmo. She first studied dance as a teenager, and after several trips to Cuba she began teaching Cuban Salsa and Rueda de Casino in 1999. She is a longtime contributor to the currently thriving Cuban Salsa scene in the SF Bay Area, and has taught and performed across the United States and internationally. A natural dancer and a thorough teacher, Sidney not only has a beautiful and fluid style of movement - she has the teaching experience and attention to detail that enable her to effectively and efficiently transform and inspire dancers at any level. Every workshop will focus on details to help you become a better and more dynamic dancer! Check out the amazing schedule below! ***Tickets are strictly limited to the first 50 people*** SATURDAY 1-2pm - RCR Casino Greatest Hits Ryan and Sidney created Rueda Con Ritmo in San Francisco in 2007 and over the years they have studied extensively in Cuba, the Bay Area, and in their travels throughout the US and beyond. In this class you’ll learn some of their favorite fun and practical Casino moves for social dancing. 2-3pm - Origins of Rueda de Casino: Moves from 1957 to 1964 Rueda de Casino was first created by a group of young people in Havana in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In their travels to Havana, Ryan and Sidney have met and danced with several of the original dancers of the style ("Fundadores," now in their 60s and 70s). In this class you'll learn many of the moves and style from the early days, including Derecha-izquierda, Bótala p'atrás, Por debajo del brazo, and Bikini. 3-4pm - Casino Musicality: Dancing to the Instruments of Timba In this class we’ll focus on specific instruments to listen for in the music and how to interpret those instruments in your dancing. We’ll begin with several percussion instruments (clave, bass drum/bombo, bell/cencerro, and conga/tumbadora) and later we’ll focus on the vocals and horns (metales). You’ll see how these instruments can affect your footwork, timing, movement, and partner connection. 4-5pm - Timba Translations: When Two Instructors Translate a Song into a Dance We are super excited to bring something that has never been done before at a Cuban festival! Two Schools, 1 Song, 2 Dance Translations, 1 Hour workshop. Rueda con Ritmo and Bembe' Cincinnati are going to collaborate through their own translation of the same music. Ryan and Sidney have selected a section of a song. Jeff and Ashley will join them at the beginning of the class and dance to this selection showcasing how both sets of instructors translate the music into the dance. Afterward, each set of Instructors will breakdown and teach their sequence, talk about the music and why they decided to dance as they did. Will they be the same? Will they be completely different? We are very excited to find out! We won't know until you do! This class will teach you different ways of translating music instead of falling into the "patterns" trap that we can find ourselves in. It will be a very dynamic and thought provoking class. SATURDAY NIGHT PARTY! Cuban music with an added spice of Bachata, Merengue and Salsa thrown in until 1am! BYOB SUNDAY 1-2pm - Son de Santiago (Roots of Casino) Son is the style of dance and music that directly preceded Casino (aka Salsa) in Cuba. It is beautiful and elegant, simple in movements but sophisticated in rhythm and style. Many of the best Casino dancers incorporate movements, turns, timing, and style from Son into their Casino dancing. In this class you'll learn some fundamental steps, movements, and turn patterns as well as more intermediate material. 2-3pm - Casino Musicality: Dancing to the Accents of Timba Ryan and Sidney are known for being highly musical in their social dancing and choreography. In this class we'll use musical examples, counts, and clapping exercises to explain a few of the most common accents in Timba music, including ponche, bombo, tun-tun, ca-chá, and more. Then, we'll physicalize these rhythms using practical, use-at-the-club changes in footwork and body movement. 3-4pm - Casino Add-ons: How to play with the 5th beat Jeff and Ashley from Bembe' Cincinnati are going to take you through a series of movements, patterns and styling that will help you add length and variability to your Casino dancing. The more you dance, the more Guapea and Dile Que No, in their basic forms, can be removed from your patterns. Most movement begins on the 1 and ends on the 8. We will explore ways to lead and follow focusing on the 5th-8th beats and how this can make your dance more dynamic. 4-5pm - Rueda Con Timba While Rueda de Casino as a dance form predates it, Timba is currently the musical genre that most commonly accompanies Rueda (and all Casino) dancing. In this class you’ll learn fun movements, dance steps, and Rueda calls that were inspired by modern Timba songs and singers. Give your dancing body what it craves, get your ticket now!! See you soon! More Info below.