Welcome to Key2Cuba
Cuba, in my experience is the most thrilling, intoxicating and life enhancing
island in the world. For a dance or culture lover, it is heaven! My passion for Cuba has inspired me to research and create Key2Cuba: a specialist dance holiday experience, and now a dance legend! I invite you to join me and my team
to unlock the magic for yourselves.
Click
here to watch a video clip of what you can expect from
your holiday (broadband recommended) Also, why not check out
our Key2Cuba blog.
Many congratulations to our Valentines competition
winner Adrian Thomas,
from Middlesex, UK. Adrian joined our
Valentines group this February so please check out what
he
had to say.
We now have 2 places left on our August holiday in
addition to
a Special Offer on our September holiday. A
sample itinerary for August and September is now
available and our brand new itinerary for our
New
Year trip is now available.
I look forward to meeting you in Havana or at one of the Cuban events
in
the coming year.
Kerry Ribchester
Director of Key2Cuba Ltd +44 (0)7767 313 168
I first travelled to Cuba in 1996. I was researching
Cuban Salsa and wanted to make
a video specifically about
the Cuba n
style. Having taught salsa at Club
Brazil in London for 6
years, I thought I knew a thing or two about Cuban Salsa,
but I had only scratched the surface. When I saw the Cubans
dancing, I realised that they were moving on a whole other
level than I had seen in the U.K. Their body movement was so
fluid and free. The Rueda moves had meanings to them, they
weren’t just turns or steps, and they were having fun making
witty social comments through their Rueda moves (the
circular Salsa dance). Their style of Salsa seemed so much
richer in content, as they incorporated the body movement of
Son, Rumba, and the Afro-Cuban Gods into their Salsa. The
most impressive and heart warming aspect was the passion,
vitality and confidence with which they connected to each
other - men and women really enjoying dancing from their
heart, to pulsating live music. This really inspired me.
I went back to Cuba many times to study with the president of C.N.E.A.R.T
Borja Jimenez. I eventually made a video with the dancers from the Raices Profundas company, forging strong friendships with Ildoylidia Ramos, Orlando and Papito from
the Carlos Manuel Clan. These dancers still work with our team and are world class dancers/teachers. I then began to bring groups of Salseros to Cuba to share and enjoy everything that I loved about dancing
in Havana and
the whole Cuban experience!
Each time I went to Cuba, I travelled further around the country and began to
source the best dance haunts where the professional dancers would
hang out after their shows, the quality paladores in people’s houses to
enjoy home cooked Cuban cuisine, the most luxurious hotels with an atmosphere, and extra-ordinary dance spaces. Thanks to my good friend Harold Williams, we found the most beautiful locations for private parties
with Cuba’s top bands. We are also very proud to have Rohan Brown from Salsa
Fever, part of the family for the past
three years, bringing
his unique charisma and knowledge to the programme.
With each trip more successful
than the last, I noticed just how much each person’s confidence grew on the dance floor, and how their body movement became
much more fluid. It became more than just a dance holiday.
Everyone seemed to love being in
a place where you could dance for the sheer fun of it, party without inhibitions, and
be surrounded by great architecture, history, natural beauty
and the most
passionate and intelligent people you could ever hope to meet.
Having led more than 40 trips to Cuba over the past 10 years, I have also been fortunate enough to meet many fantastic and vibrant clients who
come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Key2Cuba Salseros are truly international, coming from Norway, Australia, Canada, Holland, Russia,
France, Spain, Sri- Lanka, Dubai, Greece and Turkey and of course the UK. People bond on the trips, sharing the special and
unique experience of Cuba. This sense of family continues long afterwards and we meet up regularly for reunion parties at the Pontins festivals and at the Cuba UK congresses every November at an historic castle in Wales. Check out all the
photo and video galleries to see what I am talking about.
So, if you are ready to take your Salsa to the next level, make a whole new set of friends from all over the world, and experience the holiday of a lifetime, come and join us! It would be a privilege to welcome you in Havana.
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