RCR hosts a Cuban Dance Party every 1st Saturday of the month at the LMDC in Oakland. In April we will feature both old and new Cuban music & dance, the traditional elegance of Son and the new energy of Salsa (aka Timba music & Casino dance).

At all of our monthly parties we celebrate the birthdays of everyone born in that month. Contact us in advance if your birthday is in April and we’ll put you on the guest list (just be sure to bring your ID).

The Lake Merritt Dance Center is a PERFECT venue for dancing, featuring a smooth vintage hardwood dance floor with ample space to dance. We are now renting the lounge in addition to the ballroom so we have two large spaces to offer two different classes simultaneously. Ryan and Sidney will be teaching separate groups in the separate spaces for two separate hour-long dance workshops. The first hour will be Son, and the second hour will be 1-on-1 Cuban Salsa (aka Casino) partner dancing (not Rueda moves).

Here’s the full schedule for the night:

6:00pm Son Dance Workshops (Beginning with Sidney, Int/Adv with Ryan)
7:15pm Cuban Salsa (Casino) Dance Workshops (Beginning with Ryan, Int/Adv with Sidney)
8:30 - 11:30pm DJ Ritmo spins Música Cubana (Timba + Son)

Registration Links

6:00pm Workshop (INCLUDES ADMISSION TO party)

7:15pm Workshop (INCLUDES ADMISSION TO party)

Party Only (8:15 to 11:30pm)

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.

Ryan Mead is co-director and co-founder of Rueda Con Ritmo. Ryan has been teaching Cuban Salsa and Rueda de Casino since 2005, and he has taught and performed across the United States, and internationally in Cuba, Mexico, Canada, and New Zealand. Besides being a dancer, Ryan has been a percussionist since the age of eight. He is an alumnus of the New England Conservatory and Stanford and has taken many trips to Cuba to study both dance and music -- since 2015 he has lead Cuba Dance Trips with Sidney, where in 2018 he performed with Companía All Stars in a music video with the Grammy-winning Septeto Santiaguero.

Sidney Weaverling is co-director and co-founder of Rueda Con Ritmo and has been teaching in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1999. She has a deep appreciation and respect for Cuban music, dance, and culture and takes great pleasure in sharing her knowledge and experience with her students. She continues to study in Cuba on RCR’s Cuba Dance Trips and is devoted to maintaining traditional Cuban dance styles as well as contributing innovative moves and choreography. She has been a longtime contributor to the thriving Cuban dance scene in the SF Bay Area where she continues to build an inclusive and supportive dance community.

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.