https://journals.scientia.international/SIJLLA

Scientia International Journal for

Linguistics, Letters and Arts

Vol. 1, 1 (2026)

Type: [Research Article] | DOI: 10.56365/sng6m558

This is an open access publication under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0).

Perceptions of Rueda de Casino: Dialogues between Brazil, Cuba, and

Norway

Bruno Blois Nunes1*, Mônica Corrêa de Borba Barboza2, Bernt Rygg3

1Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), Santa Maria, Brazil, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2462-9562

2Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), Santa Maria, Brazil, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7764-4459

3SalsaNor, Oslo, Norway, ORCID not provided

* Corresponding author: Bruno Blois Nunes, bruno-nunes.bn@ufsm.br

Abstract

This article discusses a dance of Cuban origin known as Rueda de Casino. From the perspective of the three authors, we present

an account that brings together three viewpoints derived from experiences in different parts of the world involving both the practice

and the teaching of this dance. The shared perceptions allow us to highlight the playful, inclusive, and educational nature of Rueda

de Casino, which is grounded in the integration of practitioners, the development of empathy, attention to the collective, and

collaboration. These characteristics captivate people around the world, as well as those who are beginning to engage in this practice.

We conclude that this dance, which originated as a leisure and entertainment activity, has significant artistic and pedagogical

potential and can be used in different contexts and through different approaches.

Keywords: Ballroom Dance; Rueda de Casino; SalsaNor’s Rueda Congress.

Article details | Open Peer Review

Edited by:

William Jônatas Vidal Coutinho

Hudson do Vale de Oliveira

Reviewed by:

Anna Juliace

Juliana Porto Machado

Citation:

Nunes, B. B., Barboza, M. C. B., & Rygg, B. (2026).

Perceptions of Rueda de Casino: Dialogues between Brazil,

Cuba, and Norway. Scientia International Journal for

Linguistics, Letters and Arts, 1(1), Article ID.

https://doi.org/10.56365/sng6m558

Article history

Received: 16/12/2025

Revised: 05/02/2026

Accepted: 27/02/2026

Available: 28/07/2026

Scientia International Journal for Linguistics, Letters and Arts 2 of 14

1. Introduction

This article examines Rueda de Casino, a social practice of Cuban origin, through the perspectives of three

professionals who engage with this manifestation in different contexts. Brazilian professors Bruno Blois

Nunes and Mônica Barboza teach in higher education in the Dance Education degree program at the Federal

University of Santa Maria. Bruno Blois focuses specifically on ballroom dance, with an emphasis on Ruedas

de Casino. Bernt Rygg is Norwegian, teaches Rueda de Casino, and is one of the organizers of an annual

international event devoted to this dance practice. The writing of this article coincided with the period in

which Professor Mônica Barboza was conducting postdoctoral research in Havana, Cuba, where she

remained throughout 2025. Each author therefore contributes a distinct perspective shaped by their respective

cultural experiences.

To understand the three perspectives on Rueda de Casino presented throughout the article, we consider it

important to discuss the idea of cubanidad as a Cuban way of life and to outline a historical overview of how

Ruedas have evolved over time. We begin with the former.

According to Ortiz (1940, pp. 165–166, our translation):

For cubanidad, it is not enough to have Cuba as one’s birthplace, nation, life, and bearing;

consciousness is still lacking. Full cubanidad does not consist merely in being Cuban as a result of

any of the environmental contingencies that surrounded the individual personality and shaped its

conditions; it also requires the awareness of being Cuban and the will to be so.

García and Zanella (2017, p. 206) state that immigration to Cuban territory “contributed to cultural

hybridization and to the syncretic condition of cubanidad.” This mixture of peoples meant that Cuban identity

was constituted through the influences and expressions of other peoples. Throughout Cuban history,

beginning with the movement that led to the struggles for independence, there has been a strong nationalist

sentiment involving the appreciation of the country’s own culture and opposition to colonization and

imperialism—dimensions that would become consolidated in the twentieth century and constitute cubanidad

(Martínez Martínez et al., 2024; Sánchez Ortega et al., 2013).

Ruedas de Casino are a cultural phenomenon that is highly present in contemporary Cuban life. According

to Borges and Sardiñas (2012), the origin of the Ruedas and their circular dance formation suggests two

Original: “No basta para la cubanidad tener en Cuba la cuna, la nación, la vida y el porte; aún falta tener la conciencia. La

cubanidad plena no consiste meramente en ser cubano por cualquiera de las contingencias ambientales que han rodeado la

personalidad individual y le han forjado sus condiciones; son precisas también la conciencia de ser cubano y la voluntad de quererlo

ser”.

Scientia International Journal for Linguistics, Letters and Arts 3 of 14

possibilities: choreographies performed at Cuban quinceañera celebrations and the contradanza criolla

(Borges & Sardiñas, 2012), which encompasses steps from different dances whose movements are called out

by a leader

(Borges & Sardiñas, 2012). It may be danced in a closed position (posición cerrada), in which

the dancers face each other, or in an open position (posición abierta), in which participants face the center of

the circle and, at times, have no contact with their partner and may move in different directions (Nunes,

2021).

Balbuena Gutierrez (2022) explains that, following the triumph of the socialist revolution in 1959, a series

of social changes took place in the country that were closely connected to the development of Ruedas de

Casino. One important example identified by the scholar was the creation of the Consejo Nacional de Cultura

in 1961. This institution was entrusted with the important task of studying, recovering, and disseminating

national culture in its different manifestations. Another important role of the Council was to lead the process

of formulating a national policy for arts education.

Within this movement, many clubs and ballrooms were nationalized, most of them being entrusted to

workers’ trade-union organizations. This led to the creation of the Círculos Sociales Obreros (CSOs), where

leisure projects were developed for a population that was no longer separated by social conditions or ethnic

origin, but instead shared spaces that “enabled the exchange of cultural knowledge and ways of feeling and

expressing bodily movement with greater creative freedom” (Balbuena Gutierrez, 2022, Cosmoescena

section). These centers began to hold matinée activities known as té bailables, where young people enjoyed

themselves on weekends while experiencing the country’s various ballroom dances. A “new generation of

casineros” emerged there, Balbuena Gutierrez explains (2022, Cosmoescena section), marking a period of

broad dissemination of the Ruedas. These gatherings fostered community and family life and reinforced the

spirit of fellowship in each neighborhood. Each Círculo Social Obrero developed its own way of expressing

itself through this dance.

Other important developments mentioned by Balbuena Gutierrez (2022) for this period were the creation

of the Escuela Nacional de Arte, the emergence and training of professional arts instructors, and the

establishment of two companies that were fundamental to the dissemination of national culture and identity:

Danza Nacional de Cuba and Conjunto Folklórico Nacional. Both companies influenced the emergence of

other groups and encouraged the stage presentation of popular manifestations, including the Ruedas.

At the Escuela Nacional de Danza, the movement to value and systematize national dances also took

place, and the country’s ballroom dances—more specifically, Ruedas de Casino—were incorporated into the

curricula during the 1970s. At the same time, Balbuena Gutierrez (2022, Cosmoescena section) recalls that

The Cuban contradanza criolla became popular under the name habanera, which was later adopted (Sublette, 2004).

The caller may also be referred to as líder, director, guía, or capitán (Nunes, 2021).

Scientia International Journal for Linguistics, Letters and Arts 4 of 14

the work developed by the Movimiento Artistas Aficionados promoted a broad process of democratizing art

by bringing it to “workers, peasants, students, and the people in general” through activities carried out at the

Casas de Cultura, which were located in neighborhoods throughout the country. Among the manifestations

addressed, arts instructors taught and encouraged Ruedas de Casino.

Balbuena Gutierrez (2022) emphasizes that, gradually over time, gestures and movements characteristic

of Havana carnivals, Rumba, movements associated with the worship of orishas, other religious practices

originating in African cults and Afro-Hispanic syncretism, and dances of Franco-Haitian origin began to be

incorporated. Musical elements originating in these African-diasporic manifestations were also incorporated,

including certain percussion instruments. Song lyrics frequently allude to religious practices and events from

people’s everyday lives. As can be seen, this practice has had a strong Black influence, as has Cuban culture

as a whole, since its inception. According to Balbuena Gutierrez (2022), this movement became more visible

from the 1990s onward.

In an account shared by Balbuena Gutiérrez (2022, Cosmoescena section), we find that, between 1979

and 1985, an important television program entitled Para Bailar helped encourage, value, and preserve Cuban

popular dances, an “achievement that likewise influenced practitioners’ motivation to learn the basic steps

and thus attain a more diverse and creative level of interpretation.” The same article mentions another

television program, developed in the 1990s and entitled Para Bailar Casino, which, according to the

publication, provided a “major impetus for the creation of new casino circles at municipal and national

levels” (Balbuena Gutiérrez, 2022, Cosmoescena section).

In the field of academic research, particular emphasis should be placed on the work carried out at the

Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA), together with studies conducted by the Escuela Nacional de Danza, which

would later be involved in the international event Baila em Cuba in 2006. The program of this event “featured

the teaching of Casino as its main course, while also including the entire range of social ballroom dances as

a means of expanding knowledge of the universe of Cuban dances globally” (Balbuena Gutierrez, 2022,

Cosmoescena section). Like every popular practice, this manifestation remains in constant motion, with the

creation of new figures and cultural hybridizations (Balbuena Gutierrez, 2022).

Over the years, the Rueda left the Caribbean island and reached many different parts of the world.

Numerous Cuban dancers and teachers took the dance to other countries, while the practice also became

known and was disseminated by enthusiasts and scholars from other nations. Given the period in which it

emerged and its current dynamics, it may be assumed that the practice has incorporated additional dance

steps and structures beyond the traditional circle, transforming itself wherever it goes. This can be seen in

the three different perspectives on the practice presented throughout the article, followed by some concluding

reflections.

Scientia International Journal for Linguistics, Letters and Arts 5 of 14

2. Rueda de Casino from the Perspective of a Brazilian Teacher and Researcher

Bruno Blois Nunes first encountered the arts through music. He took singing, guitar, keyboard, and drum

lessons while also experiencing another artistic practice: ballroom dance classes. It was at this point that he

became involved in the practice he would never abandon, becoming a ballroom dance teacher in 2006.

Since 2009, he has engaged with the phenomenon of Rueda de Casino, studying it and becoming involved

with communities of practitioners around the world. His participation in three World Salsa Congresses, held

from 2009 to 2011 by Conexión Caribe

in São Paulo, Brazil, and in the three most recent Rueda de Casino

Congresses organized by SalsaNor

—Spain in 2023, Greece in 2024, and Austria in 2025—constituted

important experiences in this trajectory.

In his view, Rueda de Casino is a powerful tool for human development. According to Nunes (2021), the

practice can be understood as a means of engaging the different multiple intelligences conceptualized by

Gardner (2002): bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, intrapersonal, interpersonal, linguistic, logical-mathematical, and

musical. The author reflects on the theoretical application of Gardner’s work (2002) to Rueda de Casino as

follows:

All participants refine their musical listening in order to maintain the harmonious rhythm of the

Rueda; they enhance their bodily-kinesthetic intelligence to stimulate the dynamics of the Rueda;

they improve their spatial perception through the practice of dance and their constant movement

through space; and they sharpen their interpersonal intelligence, given the need to pay attention to

the other participants in the Rueda, which helps build positive relationships so that the dance

dynamics achieve a good result (Nunes, 2021, p. 41).

As a teacher and researcher, Bruno Blois Nunes also uses Rueda de Casino pedagogically as a means of

questioning prejudices deeply rooted in society. In a recent text, Nunes and Dias (2023) discuss two such

prejudices maintained in common sense: that making mistakes is bad and that playfulness is only for children.

Regarding the view that playfulness is an activity intended for children, Nunes and Dias (2023) argue that

society has entrenched the perception that, once people become adults, playful activities belong to childhood.

Drawing on the concept of homo ludens developed by Huizinga (2019), the authors defend the presence of

playfulness throughout every stage of human life. To strengthen their argument, they cite the philosopher of

science Feyerabend (2011, p. 40): “[...] initial playful activity is an essential prerequisite for the final act of

understanding. There is no reason why this mechanism should cease to function in adults.” They therefore

argue that the practice of Rueda de Casino can help uproot the prejudice against playful activities mentioned

at the beginning of this paragraph.

A group that sought to promote Latin culture, primarily Caribbean culture, with an emphasis on dance and music.

SalsaNor is Norway’s first nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting salsa culture, founded in 1999. Retrieved September

27, 2025, from www.salsanor.no/en/about-salsanor-building-the-joy-of-dance-in-norway-since-1999/.

Scientia International Journal for Linguistics, Letters and Arts 6 of 14

With regard to error, one of the authors referenced by Nunes and Dias (2023) is Saturnino de la Torre.

According to Torre (2005), a pedagogy that creates room for error can use the act of making mistakes to

reflect on how and what may be improved. In addition, Bachelard (2004) highlights the importance of

reflecting on error, noting that an isolated mistake, without critical examination, does not contribute to

teaching because people will continue making mistakes without understanding the reasons behind their

actions.

Based on the authors cited above, Nunes and Dias (2023) show that Rueda de Casino offers an opportunity

to experience error collectively and share it with the other dancers, prompting the entire group to seek a way

of solving the problem. Rather than inhibiting practitioners, mistakes bring the dancers together; while

enjoying the dance, they seek to resolve the challenges that errors create throughout the practice.

In his work as a university professor, he regularly offers Rueda de Casino workshops and develops

outreach projects based on the practice. Bruno believes that Rueda de Casino, as a collective ballroom dance

practice, offers teaching and learning possibilities that are not found in partner dances. The proposal to use

playfulness and error—both individual and collective—in learning dance reveals the potential of a collective

practice in a circle, in which each participant is responsible for maintaining the group’s dynamics and the

group is responsible for each individual.

3. At the Birthplace of Rueda de Casino: A Cuban-Brazilian Account

The second perspective is offered by Professor Mônica Barboza. Her journey in dance began during

childhood in her hometown in the interior of Rio Grande do Sul. At a very young age, she began preparing

for and working as a ballet teacher, a path she would follow for many years. As a dancer, she experienced

training in different aesthetics and participated in several artistic collectives, in which she also consistently

worked as a teacher. Academically, from secondary education onward, her studies were directed toward

teaching, with an emphasis on dance education and teacher education in this field.

As previously stated, the perspective she shares in this article originates in on-site experiences during a

postdoctoral study conducted at the Universidad de Ciencias Pedagógicas Enrique José Varona in Havana,

from January 2025 to January 2026. By residing on the Caribbean island for one year, the author was able to

live alongside the Cuban people in their everyday lives and become closer to their way of life, political

organization, culture—in other words, to cubanidad—and especially to the artistic practices that were the

focus of her study.

She recalls that one of the first manifestations she observed, in February, was a large outdoor Rueda, an

event that brought together many practitioners with the shared aim of dancing together. The parejas (couples)

arrived gradually, displaying an enthusiasm characteristic of the Ruedas: a collective practice that moves

Scientia International Journal for Linguistics, Letters and Arts 7 of 14

everyone through a festive gathering. At that moment, Cuban adults of all ages and generations could be seen

arriving from different municipalities of Havana at Plaza de la Piragua, near the Malecón, she explains.

During a visit to an Escuela Provincial de Danza in March, she observed elementary-level children—

corresponding to the final years of elementary education in Brazil—learning and sharing the experience of a

Rueda de Casino in a folk-dance class. In other words, this dance manifestation is regarded as part of the

national repertoire and is included in dancers’ education, as noted above.

In the educator’s view, there is a clear relationship between aspects of this way of dancing and the

founding principles of Cuban revolutionary culture, such as collectivity, respect for different generations and

more experienced masters, and the importance of individualities in constructing a collective identity—an

identity that is a source of pride. Cuba cannot be discussed without considering its history as a people engaged

in struggle, who fought many battles for independence, against interference by U.S. imperialism, and in

support of a socialist revolution (Hernández, 1980). Therefore, in the educator’s view, throughout its history

Cuba has cultivated a distinctive spirit of fellowship and internationalist solidarity that forms part of its

idiosyncrasy.

Based on empirical data from her experience in Cuba, the professor understands that dancing Casino

constitutes a movement. In this way of being and dancing, every person matters. The Rueda is always a

collective dance that requires close attention to one’s partner and, at the same time, to the whole and to the

other couples. The unpredictability of this improvisation-based dance demands an even stronger state of

presence. It contains known elements and figures, but the order of the sequence to be danced is always

unpredictable and unique. It also embodies an inclusive principle: any place can become a space for dancing,

whether a street or a ballroom, and the manifestation is not restricted to a particular age group, Mônica

Barboza emphasizes.

Both the sounds that inspire and accompany the Ruedas and the manner of dancing—the movements

created and renewed in each historical period—visually express features of Cuban identity resulting primarily

from transculturation between its Hispanic origins, represented by colonizers, and African origins,

represented by enslaved people and their descendants. According to Sánchez Ortega et al. (2013), these

peoples merged and integrated, generating the foundations of Cuban culture and, consequently, of its forms

of artistic creation.

Mônica Barboza recalls that it is not uncommon today for a Rueda to form unexpectedly at a gathering or

an event of another kind, generating a particular mobilization and sense of excitement. There is a mystique,

a kind of materialization of belonging to cubanidad that carries principles of fellowship, of looking at oneself

and at others, in celebration.

Scientia International Journal for Linguistics, Letters and Arts 8 of 14

Like the other artistic manifestations found on the island, Ruedas de Casino also frequently form part of

political events and festivities. One example was the commemoration of the sixty-fifth anniversary of the

creation of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs), which, on September 28, 2025,

included several Ruedas taking place simultaneously throughout the island.

A recent achievement that was enthusiastically shared throughout the country occurred in 2024, when the

record for people dancing Ruedas de Casino simultaneously was set (Castro Ruz, 2024). According to a local

newspaper, “for nine minutes, 142 casino circles involving more than 2,900 dancers took place

simultaneously throughout the island”

(Castro Ruz, 2024, Culture section).

The Ruedas can be seen to transform as Cuban culture itself transforms, while practitioners and teachers

on the island maintain contact with Cubans living abroad and with people of other nationalities who have

embraced this form of danced expression. With the characteristic generosity of the people who created this

brilliant dance manifestation, there is no reluctance to share it. On the contrary, Cubans enjoy teaching

newcomers, inviting them to watch a Rueda, or even bringing them into it before they have considered taking

part. The manifestation has thus become one of the ways in which Cuban culture is disseminated throughout

the world.

The professor expresses concern about the way this dance is expanding, fearing that the genuinely Cuban

values on which it is founded may become diluted in practices emptied of their historical and cultural context.

She also understands the commercialization of this manifestation as a phenomenon that contradicts the

essence of the dance. Cuban researcher Balbuena Gutierrez (2022, Cosmoescena section) highlights the large

number of Cuban and international masters who work with this practice in a highly respectful and qualified

manner, but she is also concerned by the actions of people whom she calls “true plunderers” of traditional

Cuban dances.

Because she does not work directly in the teaching, practice, or research of ballroom dance, Mônica

Barboza ultimately considers that appreciating and approaching the Ruedas through her postdoctoral study

was profoundly formative in many respects. According to the professor, this manifestation embodies

principles that can contribute greatly to the conception of teacher education she advocates: one that is “more

grounded in solidarity and less solitary” (Barboza, 2024, p. 24), enabling us to think about and practice

teaching through actions that are themselves educational content for solidarity in the anti-imperialist and

internationalist struggle.

Original: “Durante nueve minutos en toda la Isla se realizaron simultáneamente 142 ruedas de casino, con más de dos mil 900

bailadores en todo el país”.

Scientia International Journal for Linguistics, Letters and Arts 9 of 14

4. Norway Dances Rueda de Casino: Notes on a Dancer and Researcher

Bernt Rygg was born in Stavanger, Norway, and moved to Oslo, where he currently lives. While attending

university salsa classes in the Norwegian capital, he occasionally took part in weekend gatherings with

international instructors; this was where he first encountered Rueda de Casino.

At that time, Oslo’s salsa scene was not large. Through contact with other salsa dancers, he met a

Norwegian Rueda de Casino teacher named Joar Svanemyr and began attending his classes around the year

2000. During the same period, Juan Carlos Ortega, a Cuban Rueda instructor, had also moved to Oslo and

taught at another dance school.

In 2002, many participants in Rueda de Casino classes traveled to Stavanger for the first Rueda Congress

organized by SalsaNor. Initially, it was a national event intended to define a standard way of dancing the

most basic Rueda de Casino figures, which would allow participants to dance Rueda together in every city.

This led to the Norwegian Rueda Standard, later shortened to Rueda Standard

after the removal of any

specifically Norwegian element.

The author regularly participated in the event. During one edition, he was invited to dance a Rueda de

Casino with four couples, in which the other three leaders were event instructors: Joar Svanemyr, Ricardo

Martinez, and Cristobal Olivares. The gathering also strengthened his connection with Reidun Svabø, the

event organizer and founder of SalsaNor.

After meeting Reidun, she soon invited the researcher to take part in organizing the dance events. At first

he hesitated because he did not know how he could help, but this hesitation was overcome as he became

involved in practical tasks, including providing information online and recording and editing videos.

The process was so gradual and organic that it is difficult to determine exactly when he began working

on the event’s organization. It can nevertheless be stated that, by the 2005 congress, he was deeply involved

in organizational activities and taught Rueda de Casino at the event for the first time, after spending several

years teaching the practice at dance schools in Norway. Since then, he has taught Rueda at every event

organized by SalsaNor, except in 2010, in countries including Austria, Denmark, England, Greece, and

Spain.

At the 2014 Rueda Congress, he was invited to the United States to assist José Barreto in organizing the

Boston Rueda Festival. There was considerable interest in learning about what had been developed in Europe,

and he was invited to teach for three additional consecutive years. Through the connection established in the

United States, he was invited to teach Rueda in New York in 2024. He also gained other Rueda experiences

For further information on this standardization, see https://rueda.casino/ruedastandard/. Retrieved September 27, 2025.

Scientia International Journal for Linguistics, Letters and Arts 10 of 14

while teaching in Germany and Finland and while leading a Rueda Llanta workshop

for a group of Cuban

dancers in Havana during a SalsaNor dance trip.

During the 2005 Rueda Congress, the Rueda Standard was revised for the first time. A DVD was recorded

to communicate the new Rueda de Casino figures. Later, in 2009, a YouTube channel was launched to make

the videos freely available, and the response was tremendous, with the channel reaching more than three

million views. However, the organization was dissatisfied with the production quality and the random filming

locations. Consequently, in 2018, a subscription video channel, rueda.casino, was launched on Vimeo,

bringing together Cuban dancers and a professional production team to create educational videos about

Casino and Rueda de Casino. Even so, the Vimeo experience did not meet expectations because payment

restrictions greatly limited the number of people who could benefit from the work. The organization therefore

decided to release high-resolution videos for open access on YouTube in 2024.

After serving as one of the principal organizers of SalsaNor’s Rueda Congress for more than a decade, he

gradually stepped away from this role to have more free time.

He remains closely involved in coordinating

the event, although in a more limited capacity and through more specific tasks, such as teaching and

organizing certain activities.

Bernt Rygg has always enjoyed exploring new ideas. During a dance trip to Cuba in 2011, he took a video

camera and interviewed Cuban dancers about dance-related topics. He used the material to create a video

that was shown during the Rueda de Casino event as informative entertainment. At first, the quality was poor

and the production appeared quite homemade. As he expanded the content and edited new versions, and as

technology developed, the quality improved.

Several years ago, the organization decided to prioritize the production of videos at the events it leads,

particularly videos concerning Rueda de Casino and presenting different perspectives on its history and

culture. When Cuban instructors are invited, the opportunity is also used to invite them to give short

interviews.

The work carried out to date has resulted in three documentaries related to Rueda de Casino, combining

his own footage with some open-source material. The topics he has addressed are:

For further information on this type of Rueda de Casino, see https://rueda.casino/rueda-structures/rueda-llanta/. Retrieved

September 25, 2025.

Having worked with Rueda de Casino for some time and gained visibility through my role as an organizer and instructor at

SalsaNor’s Rueda Congress, I was approached by people working on books, studies, or other forms of literature about Rueda de

Casino to review, comment on, and advise their work.

Scientia International Journal for Linguistics, Letters and Arts 11 of 14

Secrets behind the Rueda de Casino Calls (first edition in 2011; most recent edition in 2025): addresses

the cultural meanings behind the various called steps used in Rueda de Casino (Rygg, 2025).

The Emergence of Rueda Structures (first edition in 2023; most recent edition in 2024): discusses the

twenty-five different Rueda de Casino structures taught during the first twenty years of SalsaNor’s Rueda

Congress (Rygg, 2024a).

The Origin of Rueda de Casino (single edition in 2024): presents the origins of Rueda de Casino in the late

1950s and traces its development to the present day (Rygg, 2024b).

The author hopes to edit the documentaries in a form that will eventually make publication possible. For

the time being, however, they remain works in progress and are available only in private settings.

5. Reflections in the Circle

This article sought to present three narratives by researchers in different locations addressing the same

artistic phenomenon: Rueda de Casino. This dance of Latin American origin carries the strength and

characteristics of the people among whom it originated and developed. Like much of their art, Ruedas de

Casino crossed the seas and eventually spread to many parts of the world.

It may be inferred that, in every context it reaches, this collective dance carries its origins while also

undergoing adaptations related to the new environment in which it is introduced. One issue that appears

particularly relevant concerns the political and economic system of its country of origin and the distinctive

forms of social organization found there. When Ruedas de Casino first emerged in Cuba, they were

experienced by only part of society. Following the triumph of the socialist revolution, as discussed above,

they became popularized, disseminated, and democratized. This dance practice is therefore part of the life

and culture of a people shaped by a different social logic from that of the other countries discussed here.

It is interesting to consider how such a genuinely rooted manifestation can simultaneously be universal,

since it places us in a way of relating to others that is collaborative, inclusive, and grounded in solidarity.

Are these not universal human values? Yet within a political and economic system such as capitalism, the

practice is not always available to everyone, but only to those who can pay to learn and enjoy it. Do Ruedas

become commodities in these new contexts? With what meanings do they enter and become established in

other societies? These questions confront us at this moment and deserve deeper reflection in future writing

and research. Attention must be drawn to the risk of inappropriate appropriation or even the distortion of the

values that have underpinned this way of dancing from its very essence.

As stated at the outset, the Rueda practices discussed by the three researchers are situated in different

contexts. Here we wish to emphasize what they share: respect for and recognition of the true creators of this

dance, expression, and movement, which has so much to teach us from multiple perspectives.

Scientia International Journal for Linguistics, Letters and Arts 12 of 14

Through its many expressions of cubanidad, the Cuban people offer the world an example of the

achievement of a humanist and internationalist culture founded on solidarity. This is expressed not only when

Cuba sends health professionals to the most diverse regions of the world, but also when it sends numerous

artists and educators to disseminate and share knowledge with the generosity characteristic of its

revolutionary process.

From the authors’ accounts, we can summarize that the three perspectives together demonstrate some of

the potential of Ruedas de Casino in cultural, political, psychological, and pedagogical dimensions and, more

broadly, as a means of human development. Ruedas can be practiced for entertainment because of their

capacity to provide healthy experiences of leisure, belonging, and well-being. They can also serve as teaching

tools when they encourage practices directed toward an awareness of collectivity, resilience, and the ability

to work collaboratively. From a psychomotor perspective, they can contribute to the development of rhythmic

and motor skills. In short, Ruedas de Casino intrinsically embody knowledge and content that can be

developed in different realities and contexts.

Practices must be made more widely known, further research must be developed, and, above all, this

manifestation must be valued and disseminated with respect for its origins. In this sense, we recognize the

importance of experiencing, practicing, reflecting on, and studying these dances as much as possible in

communion with the people who created them. Their strength as a form of organization and entertainment,

a space for exchanges among participants, and a mode of stage presentation can inspire other ways of

experiencing dance, an art so present in the lives of peoples throughout the world.

References

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