To kick off the new year, we headed over to visit Treinta y Tres for Ruedx: Delaware. As always we danced, laughed, and learned alongside our dance familia. Read on for our review of Ruedx: Delaware 2024.
What was Included?
In line with the mission of Ruedx, the event aimed to be affordable to attendees.
- 10 hours of workshops (5 hours each day)
- 2 hours of practice (1 hour each day)
- Friday pre-party ($10) w/ DJ VSpice
- Saturday Party w/ DJ VSpice and Timba Titan
- Sunday BBQ ($10)
What classes did we take?
Andrea
- Gustavo Ramallo (NoVA): Switch
- Adrian & Paul / DC Casineros: Applying DC Casineros Technique to Rueda de Casino
- Chae Reid (everywhere): TOCA-Switch
- Ville Casineras (Louisville): The Foundations of Fun
- Ethan Wagner (NYC): Rueda de Remolino
- Nilka Acosta (NYC): Rueda Contratiempo
Alexa
- Gustavo Ramallo (NoVA): Switch
- Chae Reid (everywhere): TOCA-Switch
- Ville Casineras (Louisville): The Foundations of Fun
- Ethan Wagner (NYC): Rueda de Remolino
- Nilka Acosta (NYC): Rueda Contratiempo
My favorite part?
Andrea
- Chae’s TOCA-Switch class because it challenged me. Plus I love Chae’s calm energy and confidence as an instructor. It is inspiring for me to incorporate in my own instruction. The class was paced really well. She is an extremely clear instructor. It was great to be in an advanced class that relied on you having a very strong base of leading, following, AND switch. As a learner, I am always looking for classes that help me grow my dancing and reinforce my basics.
Alexa
- My favorite part was teaching at Ruedx. Very grateful for the opportunity and to teach alongside my sister. I was so excited to share my thoughts and experiences about Rueda from the past year. It was nerve wrecking since I am very green in the teaching world, but being around the supportive crowd of Ruedx eased a lot of nerves. Plus, I had the best time being silly with everyone.
Area of Improvement
Andrea
- Given that a lot of these classes are challenging what we know about Rueda, 5 classes in a day is a lot of information in a day. I think that allowing more time for exchange, exploration, and reinforcement of dance ideas is a great way to build on the things we are learning in workshops.
Alexa
- Having only experienced the practice time Sunday everyone was exhausted so the time was underutilized. I think rethinking when/how this time is structured into Ruedx to allow for more reflection and practice of what has been learned could help this event go to the next level.
Overall Takeaways
Huge thank you to organizer team for all their hard work, and in keeping this event accessible to dancers. Thanks to Michael Payne for asking us to teach at the event. We say it time and time again, but there is nothing better than traveling and seeing our Casino family.
The communication for the festival was very thorough and clear. The website and facebook events were updated. It was really nice for us to go into the event knowing what, where, and when things were happening. Plus expectations for the event were always clear to us, which is an important part of any festival.
The range of the classes were great. There was definitely something for everyone whether it be structures, modalities, advanced, or beginner. We think variety in workshops is important, especially at something like an exchange. Plus, there was lots for us to bring back to our local community. All the instructors did an amazing job in introducing or building on their respective topics.
While the socials were not the highlight of the event, we would have loved to see a little bit more free time in-between the Saturday social and workshops. It is no secret both of us love later socials, so 7pm was very early for us. With being excited to see so many of our fellow Casineros, we would have loved to have more time to dance with them on Friday and Saturday through either a longer social or an after-party option. Something we craved at the socials was more Timba since it is what we need to connect and enjoy when we dance Casino and Rueda de Casino.
A Ruedx is a great way to acquire new ideas and exchange ideas amongst a crowd with a bit more experience, and this event hit that mark. We think Mike and the Treinta y Tres team did an amazing job with securing spaces (with great floors) and staying on schedule. Any obstacles were dealt with easily. It was clear that a lot of heart and soul was poured into the event, and we felt it.
Were you at Ruedx: Delaware? Let us know in the comments your favorite part. Don’t forget to check out our Travel List for ideas on what is coming up around you.
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