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 new Key2Cuba blog.

Why not join us at Salsa Cubana 5 at Pontins in Blackpool this April.  We'll be there to answer any questions you may have about our holidays in
addition to salsaring Cuban style for the whole weekend.

I am excited to share an interview that I had with the amazing Samuel Formell, Musical Director of Cuba's top band, Los Van Van.  Click here to see what he had to say.

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 Cuban 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, 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.