Us traveling sisters went down to the Big Apple #RuedyForRueday. Both of are huge fans on New York City, so naturally we take advantage of every chance to go there. Last year only one of us, so it was great for us to be together. went In this week’s post you get the chance to hear more about our Rueday adventures.
What was Included?
I purchased the full pass at the early bird rate for $75 (with fees) which included:
- Workshops (5 total: 2 hours, with 2 options; 2 hours with 1 option; 1 on the boat)
- Access to the boat party (Rueda battles and new move competition)
In addition other FREE events on the schedule were:
- Friday night Industry City social w/ Yordis Larrazabal concert (Jukanbaila, read our review of this weekly social here)
- Saturday Pa’ la Calle Matinee Social w/ A Latin Movement band (Ruedathon/DJ Chulo Noir)
- Saturday Night After-Party at Stuyvesant Cove
- Sunday Rueda at the Park
In addition the extended schedule included extra workshops and group meal outings.
What classes did I take?
Andrea
- Rueda Pizza: Come get your slice w/ Cedric
Alexa
- Rueda la Ollaaaa w/ Andrea
- Rueda Pizza: Come get your slice w/ Cedric
My favorite part?
Andrea
Sunday Rueda at the Park. This may be cheating since it was part of the extended schedule, but I had such a fun time dancing with everyone.
Alexa
Sueltas on the Boat. All the sueltas with everyone were super energetic and fun, and a great way to keep people involved.
An Area of Improvement
Andrea
Shorter boat ride. The Boat ride is a great way to see the city and get some dancing in. I think a shorter ride would give people more of a dinner break time while not ending too late. I think 2 hours max is good for the Boat ride.
Alexa
Sound. Unfortunately microphones were not a part of the classes which made it harder to hear once music was playing. Since classes were pretty large in size, making sure they can hear is really important.
Overall Takeaways
Huge thanks to the organizer team and volunteers. Grace and Ethan you all are the best, and huge thanks for inviting Andrea to teach. Thank you to all the New Yorkers who show immense hospitality and kindness through hosting,rides, etc.. Anytime to dance with our Casino cousins is one both of us cherish. Being the event’s second year, it was clear that what worked stayed and adjustments were made to it’s few weaker points.
We have to take note of their extended schedule which connected with other organizer events in NYC and some planned by them. It was a great way to give out of towners options (free and paid) if they were to come early and stay. Overall I think it boosts the interest in paying to go to NYC beyond the main event Rueday.
Once again communication about the details of Rueday were extremely clear. Which per last year was one of my (Alexa) favorite things. The whatsapp group was a convenient communication tool, the google maps was a handy reference guide, and facebook also had any information needed. Also, the guided transport to lunch and the boat were much appreciated and well organized.
Classes were fun and we think offered nice open level and varied classes with high quality instructors. In total there were 2 classes before lunch, and we definitely appreciated the later start time. The 2 classes after lunch were with some big Rueda name which was a huge score (Yanek & Yisel, Bernt). The range in Rueda styles of all the instructors was really great to see. Also, the spaces were really nice and spacious, so bonus points.
The boat was fun. We are both DJ Timba Titan fans, so having him on the 1s and 2s was amazing. We would have liked more time before getting on the boat to take a break after workshops. Second, there was a long time waiting to get onto the boat, so either scheduling the meet up time a bit later or playing music would be a good option. For both of us, dancing on a boat is rather difficult for a prolonged amount of time. in our opinion, a shorter boat ride where you still get to see an iconic skyline and important landmarks with some dancing with a longer after-dancing option would have been better. We definitely would have preferred to have Svetlana’s class in the studio. The boat time was really scheduled which were fun ways to keep people involved and connected. In the future opt-in for the rueda competition may be nice because both of us were unclear on how it worked.
We had so much fun at the after party being the party animals we are. Such a beautiful park and nice way to wrap up the night on dry land. Our last bit of props go to the super cute shirt they designed. So, were you at Rueday 2024? Let us know in the comments below what your favorite part of it was. Be sure to check out Rueda at the Park for any of their future events. Don’t forget to also check the Travel page for your next event also.
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