RUEDA DE CASINO COMES TO AMERICA - AUTHENTIC SALSA DANCE  In 1972, Gerardo Haramboure, a Cuban immigrant, took note of the Hispanic young people in Miami, for the most part Cuban, who were losing the connection to their culture. He recalled the pleasure and social awakening of dancing Rueda de Casino in Cuba and decided he would create an opportunity to pass on his skill to the younger generations. He spoke with the manager of the Miami Airport Hilton, which had a discotheque named Mystiques and secured Thursday evening as Salsa night, when he and his wife, Marlene, would teach Rueda de Casino to whomever attended, free of charge. A younger friend named Ramani Nicola jumped at the chance to learn and then joined Gerardo in teaching at the club, later opening up a dance studio to promote Rueda de Casino in the Miami area, as did several other of Gerardo’s students during the late 80’s and early 90’s. Miami-Dade Community College even offered three levels of Latin Dance, which now included Casino taught by Alejandro Delgado, a student of Ramani and later instructor at both Mystiques and Ramani’s Dance Studio. With news media coverage and the introduction of the internet and YouTube, Rueda de Casino spread to Los Angeles, New York, London and Paris as more dancers would visit Mystiques and get caught up in the Rueda. One such visitor was Jacira Castro from Chile, who would join Ramani in teaching at his studio and later launch SalsaPower.com, now the world’s largest salsa website with correspondents in major cities spanning the globe.

RUEDA DE CASINO SPREADS TO MAJOR CITIES  Each city has its own variation on the original Cuban Rueda de Casino style all of which can be fun and entertaining.  The Miami style is however tenaciously true to form in retaining the elegance and glamour of pre-revolution Havana, much like Miami itself. The distinguishing features of the Miami style are the tap step added prior to execution of any move, and the adherence to the purity of the original form even in the creation of new moves or combinations. Blending of other styles such as swing with its acrobatics or even latter day post-revolution Cuban versions incorporating street funk are not taught or practiced within the Miami style.

DANCE SCHOOLS AND DANCERS  As with any personal hobby, sport or pastime, there is great pleasure in performing and securing awards in competitions.  More than not, entering into authentic salsa competition is usually a result of becoming a great dancer, and not the motivation or inducement of a school or trainer to becoming a great dancer.  Authentic salsa dance and dancers are supportive and encouraging of anyone’s effort to learn.  We see the dance as an art form to be appreciated and enjoyed. We want you to experience the natural joy of learning how to dance well, so we can dance together. That is our reward - so no hard sell or periodic “up sell” conversations, ever.

AUTHENTIC SALSA DANCING SCHOOLS AND INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS Several schools of dance have added Rueda de Casino to their curriculum and even in Miami have included variations that are not true to form, but continue to provide pleasure and entertainment to students.  For those desiring to enter World competitions, it would be best to investigate the source and style of training, as well as the nature of the competitions and their originators.