Rueda Globetrotters 2023 Review

Both of us traveled a little farther from home to Toulouse, France for the 6th edition of the Rueda Globetrotters Festival. We had an absolute blast dancing in France for the first time, and definitely think this festival has earned it’s attention and respect. For this week’s post we dive into our experience.

What was Included?

Both of us purchased full passes which included:

• Entrance to 4 parties w/ DJs.
  • Night one had the presentation of the artists and crew, presentation of the bootcamps, plus a group performance.
  • Night two was the Rueda competition which lasted 1.5hrs
  • Day 3 matinee social

• 9 workshop time slots (3-4 choices per hour)
• Rueda de Tazas class and cup memorabilia

The following was offered at an additional cost, but we did not participate:

• 2 Bootcamps

What classes did I take?

My favorite part?

Andrea: The overall concept. This is called Rueda Globetrotters, so basketball was incorporated into the merchandise, the announcement style, graphics, and schedule. I loved the presentation of the artists which was reminiscent of introducing your players before a basketball game. Also, I was so happy to finally meet my teachers Alexei and Emilia in person after taking classes with them for the past few years.

Alexa: I absolutely loved the Rueda Structures and Transitions class by Noe and Diego from High Five Salsa. We played around with torno and llanta. It was just so fun and challenging, and great instruction.

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Overall Takeaways

We would like to thank the organizers for putting together an amazing event. As 2 gals traveling all the way from Kentucky, USA we felt beyond welcome. The festival does cap its attendees which helps keep it at a size where it still feels personable. Not to mention, the organizers and staff were so helpful and kind in taking the time to explain the growth of the festival. Details like this really helped us feel welcome when we didn’t know that many people coming in since we dance on a different continent.

With the event being capped it did help classes from feeling too large. The scheduling of the workshops also helped balance the number of people in some classes. Every single instructor we took a class from was great in terms of energy and instruction. For the first time we saw the demos as mini performances after each class. So, when your class ended all the demos would be done for everyone to watch. Such a neat concept because it fit with the basketball theme of training and then playing the game, but also because everyone could see the demos and cheer them on together.

There was plenty of time to dance at the socials. We loved how early they started, but how they went late for us night owls. The presentation of the artists was such a cute concept. A Rueda competition also took place which featured a number of different groups, all of which put out quality work. Plus, these happened at scheduled times which made planning for the day easy. Finally, the socials really highlighted the quality of dancers at this festival (which speaks to the festival’s quality). So many great ruedas took place and good Rueda etiquette. There were also plenty of Casino lovers on the floor too.

Despite being a festival with Rueda in the name, it does provide attendees with a well rounded experience. We do hope the festival keeps its cap on the number attendees because we loved the energy and quality it was able to keep at the current size. Also, probably the most notable part of the festival is the Rueda De Tazas which the organizers Ti Punch and Schéra Zade created which is beyond fun. If you haven’t heard of it before please watch it here, and maybe even try some in your local community.

A special shout out goes to our USA Casineros who joined us from all over, we loved creating memories with you. And to all our Euro casineros, thanks for dancing with us, we loved meeting you all.

Globetrotters is an easy “I would totally come again next year” for us. So, if you’re looking to throw some dancing into your travels, maybe you can stop through Toulouse next year. We promise you won’t regret it. Are you thinking of going? Have you been before? If so, please share in the comments below.

Bueno…ya tu sabes.