Master Teachers & Collaborators
CUBAN DANCE · CULTURAL EXCHANGE · SHARED LEARNING
Meet Our Master Teachers & Collaborators
Our teaching relationships connect DC Casineros with artists whose knowledge deepens our understanding of Cuban music, dance and culture. Through workshops, company training and cultural exchange, these teachers contribute to our continuing growth.
Open a profile to explore each artist’s biography, performances and teaching work.
Master Teacher · Cuban Dance Educator · Director of Energetic Soul
Duane Wrenn is the founder and director of Energetic Soul, a Detroit-area dance and movement practice established in 2000. For more than 25 years, he has taught and performed, sharing an approach grounded in Cuban music, popular dance and Afro-Cuban traditions.
His teachers include Roberto Borrell, René Thompson and the late Félix “Pupy” Insua. His teaching has taken him across the United States, Canada, Europe and South America. He helps dancers develop musicality, body control and a responsive connection with their partners, approaching dance as a conversation.
Wrenn created the soUl°sa method and co-developed AFRO-tImBa with Kati Hernández. His work brings rhythm, movement awareness and adaptable partner dancing together for students from beginners to experienced performers.
Watch Duane Dance
Duane appears alongside Kati Hernández and other dancers in Iris Sandra Cepeda’s music video Vete por donde viniste, choreographed by Hernández.
Explore His Work
Energetic Soul — biography · Teaching and dance programs
Additional biography source: Ritmos y Raíces Athens. Portrait source: Salsa Rueda Festival’s artist profile.
Master Teacher in Afro-Cuban Dance · Choreographer · Educator · Artistic Director of KimBambula Cuban Dance & Music Ensemble
Born and raised in Cuba and now based in Los Angeles, Kati Hernández is a dancer, choreographer, educator and cultural consultant whose work shares the richness of Afro-Cuban dance and music. Her practice draws on Cuban folkloric and popular traditions, alongside training in ballet, contemporary dance and choreography.
Hernández founded and directs KimBambula Cuban Dance & Music Ensemble. She teaches Afro-Cuban dance as Special Faculty at California Institute of the Arts and has shared her work at universities, festivals and cultural venues across the Americas, Europe and the Caribbean.
Her projects include Oricha Dance Therapy, the AFRO-tImBa program developed with Duane Wrenn, and choreography and cultural advising for Tentación at Walt Disney Concert Hall. In 2024, she served as an Alliance for California Traditional Arts apprenticeship mentor in Orisha dance, continuing her commitment to teaching and transmitting these traditions.
Watch Kati Dance
Hernández choreographed Iris Sandra Cepeda’s music video Vete por donde viniste and performs in it alongside Duane Wrenn and other dancers.
Explore Her Work
Kati Cuban Dance — biography and projects · CalArts faculty profile · ACTA artist profile
Portrait source: LA Philharmonic artist profile.
Master Teacher and Teaching Collaborator · Director of CubaSon
Ramsés Sariol is a Cuban social dance teacher born in Havana and based in Mallorca, Spain. His work centers on Son Cubano, Casino and Rueda de Casino, connecting technique and musicality with the cultural knowledge that gives these dances their meaning.
With more than a decade of study and teaching, Ramsés has led workshops across the Americas, Europe and beyond, including Mexico, the United States, Spain, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Japan and Canada. Through CubaSon, he brings dance communities together around Cuban social dance, cultural exchange and shared learning.
Our Connection
Ramsés and Artistic Director Adrian Valdivia share a longstanding teaching and production partnership. Adrian co-directed CubaSon in Mexico with Ramsés and helped organize its New Orleans edition. Ramsés has also taught Cuban Son and Casino workshops for DC Casineros at Glen Echo Park, strengthening the exchange between our local community and the wider Cuban dance world.
Explore His Work
Ramsés on Cuban social dance and CubaSon · Festival artist biography
Our March 2025 Glen Echo workshops with Ramsés · Explore our international work
Meet our Master Teachers & Collaborators
Portrait source: Son y Casino’s interview with Ramsés Sariol.
Master Teacher and Teaching Collaborator · Cuban Son Dancer, Choreographer and Cultural Educator
Eric Turro Martínez is a Cuban dancer, choreographer and master teacher based in Australia. Born in Havana and rooted in Guanabacoa’s musical and social dance traditions, he has built an international career sharing the elegance, musicality and cultural depth of Cuban Son.
His performance history includes work alongside Compay Segundo and Buena Vista Social Club musicians. He has served as choreographer, lead dancer and presenter for The Bar at Buena Vista, and directs Dance Buena Vista, bringing Cuban music and social dance to the stage through performances and storytelling.
Through his teaching in Australia and his international work, Eric shares Son, Casino and other Cuban social dances with a strong emphasis on their musical foundations, partner connection and cultural history.
Our Connection
Eric is a friend, master teacher and collaborator within DC Casineros’ wider artistic community. His knowledge of Cuban Son and his commitment to transmitting its traditions enrich our company’s ongoing learning and cultural exchange.
Explore His Work
Buena Vista Turro Martinez — official biography and classes · Eric on the history and practice of Son and Casino
Meet our Master Teachers & Collaborators
Portrait source: Buena Vista Turro Martinez’s official artist profile.
Meet our Artistic Board · Explore our international relationships · Meet the company