RCR hosts a Cuban Salsa Dance Party every 1st Saturday of the month at the LMDC in Oakland. On Saturday, February 4th we are very excited to announce that the live music will be provided by Sabor De Mi Cuba, led by Carlitos Medrano and featuring many of the Bay Area’s best Cuban musicians. Listen to their album here — it’s great!
At each monthly party we want to celebrate the birthdays of everyone born in that month. Contact us in advance if your birthday is in February and we’ll put you on the guest list (just be sure to bring your ID).
The venue is the main ballroom at the Lake Merritt Dance Center which is a PERFECT venue for dancing — an amazing hardwood dance floor with lots of space to dance, beautiful decor, and a stage for live music. Here’s the schedule for the night:
7:00pm Doors Open
7:15pm Beginner Dance Class
7:15pm Int/Adv Dance Class
8:15pm DJ Ritmo
8:55pm Dance Performance
9:00pm Live Música Cubana with Sabor De Mi Cuba
9:45pm DJ Ritmo
10:15pm Sabor De Mi Cuba 2nd Set
11:00pm DJ Ritmo
Registration Links
Beginning Class & Party (7:15pm class, party until midnight)
Int/Adv Class & Party (7:15pm class, party until midnight)
Party Only (admission at 8:15, party until midnight)
We offer all of our classes and events on a sliding scale to make them accessible to as many people as possible (we are professional artists so if you are able to pay the regular price it is much appreciated). When you check out, you can enter either 25OFF or 50OFF as codes to receive 25% or 50% discounts.
A protégé of Cuban conga legend Luis “Changuito” Quintana, Havana-born Carlitos Medrano has played an important role on the Bay Area’s Latin music scene over the past decade. After several years as a sought-after sideman, he launched Sabor De Mi Cuba, a band dedicated to playing original Cuban Dance Music. The band’s debut album, released in 2012, boasts a book of Medrano’s finely wrought original tunes, and the talent-packed Sabor De Mi Cuba features many of the Bay Area’s best Cuban musicians — Sulkary Valverde (vocal), Julio de la Cruz (piano), Ernesto Mazar (bass), Colin Douglass (drums), Carlos McCoy (sax & flute), Mayombe Cruz (güiro), Carlitos Medrano (percussion).
DJ Ritmo (Ryan Mead) is co-director of Rueda Con Ritmo along with Sidney Weaverling. He went to Cuba for the first time in 2003 and has been playing, dancing to, and studying Cuban music ever since (he even wrote his Stanford thesis on Cuban music).
The LMDC building is owned by the City of Oakland so we are required to vacate by midnight. Masks are NOT required at our event in the ballroom or Hall 3 (designated food and drink area adjacent to ballroom), but masks ARE required in the hallway and bathrooms as the space is shared with other groups.
There is absolutely no food or drink in the ballroom, including water — be sure to keep all food and drink (including water) in Hall 3 or the lobby.