Workshop: Rumba

Growing up in Cuba, I was accepted into the Escuela Nacional de Arte (National School of Art) in Havana when I was 12 years old, and I graduated when I was 17. I trained in Latin, contemporary, & traditional African & Afro-Cuban styles. I also had training in acting, gymnastics, & choreography. When I graduated (2003), I won a position with the dance company, Compania Contemporanea Nacional de Cuba,(National Contemporary Dance Company of Cuba) and performed in many settings around Cuba. I continued working with this company until I came to Canada in January, 2007. After 3 months here, I won a spot on the first season of the television show, "So You Think You Can Dance Canada." I made it to the Top 8 (top 4 females). After the show finished, I joined the Top 10 touring across Canada with a show featuring a variety of performances from our program.Since them i've been working  with wonderful choreographers such as Paul Becker (choreographer on SYTYCDC) on a couples of film,including "Serority Wars"shot in Victoria bc, and more recently "Sucker Punch" directed by Zack Snyder which will be released in 2011.I'm currently teaching and performing in Vancouver, working with a variety of schools and dance studios, and participating in concentions, workshops,fstivals,and other events all around Canada.I can't wait to meet you and chare with you my passion for dance!

Workshops: Advanced Rueda, Salsa Workout, Musicality

Ryan Mead is a co-director and co-founder of Rueda Con Ritmo, a Cuban-style dance school and performing group based in the San Francisco Bay Area. With more than five years' experience teaching Cuban and Miami-style salsa, Ryan has given workshops across the country, from Atlanta to Alaska, and in Mexico. Ryan also has nearly two decades of experience as a percussionist – he is an alumnus of the New England Conservatory, and has taken several trips to Cuba to study music (most recently on a grant from Stanford). Being both dancer and percussionist, Ryan is uniquely positioned to illuminate that most fundamental, yet seldom discussed, part of dance – its connection with the music. Most recently he has been innovating a vocabulary of rhythmic calls and steps to aid dancers in the understanding and interpretation of Cuban music.

Sidney Weaverling is a co-director and co-founder of Rueda Con Ritmo, a Cuban-style dance school and performing group based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a longtime contributer to the currently thriving Cuban-style salsa scene in the SF Bay Area, with more than 10 years of experience as a teacher, performer, and choreographer. She has given salsa and rueda workshops across the United States and internationally. She has studied at the Escuela Nacional de Arte (ENA) in Cuba with the Caribbean Music and Dance program, and hosted study trips for her students at myriad schools in Miami, notably SalsaLovers and Salsa Racing. 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.

In the past Dr. Usukuma Ekuere has represented Canada in the World Salsa Championships in Miami, Florida. Ekuere has come a long way since he first set eyes on the seductive dance as a graduate student in England. He was working on his PhD when he took a break from his studies, went to a party and saw couples dancing the salsa. "I looked at them and thought, 'wow, it's absolutely beautiful'," said Ekuere, who originally hails from Nigeria. "I had never even heard of salsa--it was a total shock. I just needed to dance and now it's what I love to do." He signed up for lessons and soon became addicted to salsa. When he arrived in Edmonton, his passion for the Latin number did not quit. A number of years ago, someone from University of Alberta Campus Recreation approached a campus group called SALSA (Spanish and Latin Student Association) about finding a dance teacher. "Everybody looked at me because I was, supposedly, the dancer," said Ekuere. Since then he has spent most Sunday nights turning beginners into salsa pros. "The greatest joy is to see the difference from day one--where a lot of people don't know much about the dance at all and they really struggle--to the next classes where they get better and better. By the sixth class, I'm just blown away by how much they learn." When he's not teaching, he's choreographing and practicing for international competitions. And just what is it about the salsa that Ekuere finds so appealing? "It's very intimate, very sensual and it just looks so sexy when you watch it. I thought it was beautiful to watch, but when I got to dance it--it's just so fun. You almost don't know what is going on around you. You get lost in it. It's amazing."

Workshops: Intermediate Rueda, Advanced Salsa

Salsaddiction (SA) is the premier salsa dance school in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, promoting Cuban Salsa and Rueda de Casino and was founded by Dr. Usukuma Ekuere. His teaching is well known as a fast vehicle to learning & dancing salsa plus have enormous fun while doing it. Almost unheard of in Edmonton until the last decade, Edmonton is now seen as a salsa and rueda de casino city! Countless students have taken the many salsa classes. The most recent SA Rueda Team is comprised of students who worked their way up to performing. They have performed at numerous events from weddings to fundraisers to festivals. Salsaddiction's rueda de casino performances were well received at the Vancouver provincial Cuba Baila Festival 2008, the Alberta Salsapalooza Festival 2008 as well as at the Salsa Rueda Festival in San Francisco 2009. Salsa dance observers, who have seen Usukuma's Rueda Team in action, have been heard to say it's style is original & exciting to watch.