Adrian Valdivia is DC Casineros’ Artistic Director, Choreographer, Principal Dancer, and Instructor. A co-founder of the company in 2005, he has spent more than two decades performing, teaching, and building community through Son, Casino, Rueda de Casino, rumba, and other Cuban popular dances.

He won first place in the couples’ competition at the 2009 Miami Rueda Congress. His teaching and performance history includes the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian, and congresses in Washington, DC, San Francisco, New York, Miami, Atlanta, and Nicaragua.

Born in Venezuela into a family of dancers and musicians, Adrian brings a strong connection to Caribbean music and community life to his work. His training has included Duane Wrenn, Kati Hernandez, Yudisleidy Valdes, Jorge Luna Roque, Yoel Marrero, Oscar Rousseaux, and Aramis Pazos. He teaches from beginning through advanced levels, emphasizing the musical relationship between Son, Casino, rumba, and Orisha dance traditions.

MTV 3 Latino featured Adrian and Amanda Gill discussing Casino in Washington, DC. He also helped bring the All Stars Dance Company from Santiago de Cuba to Washington for a collaborative production with DC Casineros.

With Amanda in Vancouver

Selected Teaching, Performance, and Cultural Exchange

• Participated with Amanda Gill and Patricia Rivera on the Cubamemucho festival staff in Europe in 2009.
• Featured with Amanda Gill in the 2012 Capital Congress instructor program and the Ritmos Latinos Indiana Workshop & Fiesta on April 9, 2016.
• His international congress experience also includes Sweden.
• Co-directed CubaSon in Mexico with Ramsés Sariol, helped organize CubaSon in New Orleans, and participated in its edition in Spain.
• Featured in Son y Casino’s 2024 interview, “Casino, Commitment, and Community”, discussing dance education, cultural responsibility, and the company’s development.

Adrian’s youth work includes serving as Youth Development Program Director and Violence Prevention Coordinator with MCIP at Columbia Heights Educational Campus. He connects dance instruction with mentorship and opportunities for young people to build community. Explore our youth and family programs.

Naomi Washington-Roque is DC Casineros’ Rehearsal Director, Afro-Cuban Dance Trainer, Choreographer, Principal Dancer and Instructor. Born and raised in Washington, DC, she celebrates her Puerto Rican, Cruzan and African American heritage. Her dance journey took shape while living in the Dominican Republic in 2008, and she began studying Casino with DC Casineros in 2009.

Her training includes Ballet Folklórico Cutumba and Compañía All Stars in Santiago de Cuba. Her teaching and performance connect Casino, Rueda de Casino, Son, Cha Cha Chá, Rumba and Afro-Cuban dance. She continues her Afro-Cuban dance study under master teacher Marisol Blanco.

Naomi served as President and Choreographer of Rutgers University’s Latin dance team from 2011 to 2013 and has taught with DC Casineros since 2014. Her Cuban dance interests include Afro-Cuban dance, Orisha dance traditions, rhythm, and expressive body movement.

Naomi earned her Master of Fine Arts in Dance at Duke University in 2021, having joined the inaugural cohort of its Dance MFA in Embodied Interdisciplinary Praxis in 2019. At DukeCreate, she taught Introduction to Casino Dance on February 4, 2021 and Introduction to Cuban Rumba on March 4, 2021, connecting movement and musicality with Cuban history and culture.

Her teaching also includes Afro-Cuban Dance at Dance Place. Alongside her rehearsal leadership, Naomi contributes to the company’s youth and family programming. Education, youth work, community building, and West African dance are central interests in her artistic life. Learn about our youth and family programs.

Laura Dalemarre is DC Casineros’ Chief Financial Officer, Principal Dancer, and Instructor. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Fort Lauderdale by Haitian parents, she grew up dancing Compa and brings that musical foundation to her Cuban dance work.

Her Cuban dance experience spans more than fifteen years, with a focus on Rueda de Casino, Casino partnerwork, and Son. She has performed at congresses and festivals in the United States and internationally, and her teaching emphasizes technique, musical connection, and a welcoming environment for dancers.

Laura and William Sánchez were featured Cuban dance artists at the 2026 Tri-Cities Congress in Washington State.

Alongside her artistic work, Laura supports the company’s financial leadership. She also enjoys travel, time with family and friends, and work on environmental issues.

Watch & Learn

Casino social dancing · AGUA Night, 2016

Laura Dalemarre dances Casino with Jimmy Yoon at AGUA Night on March 23, 2016. Video: SALSANERD.

Watch on YouTube

William Sánchez & Laura Dalemarre · AGUA Night

Watch William and Laura perform together at AGUA Friday at Songbyrd Music House.

Watch William and Laura’s performance on Facebook

Request a workshop or performance

Diana Ortiz Sosa is DC Casineros’ Principal Dancer Development Lead, Principal Dancer, Instructor, and Choreographer. Born and raised in Lima, Peru, she began dancing Peruvian folk forms as a child and in her high school dance group. At fourteen, she joined the professional folkloric company Jallmay Alto Folclor and toured with that company in the United States, France, Italy, Spain, and Taiwan.

After pursuing a bachelor’s degree in economics, Diana began practicing Casino in 2008 and joined Peru Latin Dance. Her dance history brings together Peruvian folkloric performance and Cuban social dance.

In the United States, she became a member of Boston’s MetaMovements Dance Company. She moved to Washington, DC, and joined DC Casineros in 2013. Today she contributes to the company’s performances, instruction, choreography, and the development of its principal dancers.

Follow Diana on Instagram · Follow DC Casineros

Teaching and Cultural Exchange

Diana’s teaching experience includes Dance Place, George Mason University, Sweden, Atlanta, Baltimore, Baila NY, and corporate and community events. She shares her experience in Cuban social dance while supporting the growth of DC Casineros’ principal dancers.

Training and Artistic Development

Her Cuban dance training includes DC Casineros, study in Cuba mainly with All Stars, and training with Yudisleidy Valdez. She has continued her study through festivals in Atlanta, Baila NY, CubaSon in Mallorca and New Orleans, and Guaguancó. Her broader movement studies include beginner ballet at BalletNova and Peruvian folk dance with Jallmay Alto Folclor.

Diana in Performance

Paul Cassens is DC Casineros’ Instructor Chair, Principal Dancer, and Choreographer. Jim Lepore introduced him to Cuban music, dance, and culture at George Mason University; he learned Rueda de Casino with Digna Rodriguez through Azucar, the university’s Latin dance club.

Paul has taught, performed and choreographed with DC Casineros across the United States and abroad. He first traveled to Cuba in 2012 and returned to perform on multiple occasions, including a company performance in Santiago de Cuba in 2016. The company’s 2018 concert at the Kennedy Center’s Artes de Cuba festival brought this work to another audience. George Mason University faculty biography.

As an adjunct faculty member in George Mason’s School of Dance, Paul teaches World Dance courses and works as a percussionist. He also teaches with Azucar. He earned his bachelor’s degree in music at George Mason, studying with John Kilkenny and Ken Harbison, and pursued graduate studies at the University of Utah.

Selected Guest Teaching

• Rueda de Casino workshop, Nashville Afro-Cuban Weekender, 2023.
• Spring Workshop & Fiesta with Ritmos Latinos Indiana, April 11, 2026.

Paul’s work brings together dance and music, including the study and performance of Afro-Cuban music and Western art music. Based in northern Virginia, he contributes to teaching for adults and university students as well as the company’s community programming.

William Sánchez is a Choreographer, Principal Dancer, and Instructor with DC Casineros. A native of El Salvador, he began dancing baile folklórico through school and community events. He has performed Cuban dance with DC Casineros since 2009 and has taught Rueda de Casino since 2010.

His work includes Casino, Son, Rueda de Casino, Timba, Cuban rumba, and Afro-Cuban dance. His teaching emphasizes musicality, partner connection, body movement, and lead and follow technique. He has taught and performed at festivals in the United States and internationally.

William and Laura Dalemarre were featured as Cuban dance artists in the 2026 Tri-Cities Congress program in Washington State. William was also featured in the Washington Post’s 2013 Latin Sizzle review.

Beyond company performances and classes, William choreographs quinceañeras and other special events, working with young people and families to prepare for meaningful celebrations. His earlier dance work has also included DanzaTone Fitness and Dominican bachata instruction through Dame un Chin de Bachata. Explore youth and family programs.

Follow William’s dance work on Facebook.

Watch & Learn

William Sánchez & Laura Dalemarre · AGUA Night

Watch William and Laura perform together at AGUA Friday at Songbyrd Music House.

Watch William and Laura’s performance on Facebook

Request a workshop or performance

Amanda Gill is DC Casineros’ Founding and Former Artistic Director, a choreographer and a Current Instructor. She founded the company in 2005 and continues to contribute through instruction, including children’s classes at Glen Echo. A professional dancer with a background in ballet and modern dance and extensive Afro-Cuban dance training, her current teaching focuses on Casino and Son. She is highly skilled in Afro-Cuban modern dance techniques, including their use in warm-ups, and can also teach Rumba and other Cuban popular dances.

With Adrian in Vancouver

Her experience of community connection through Rueda de Casino led her to explore its relationship to dance/movement therapy in graduate school.

Raised in northern Virginia, Amanda trained in ballet, modern dance, and African dance, and performed with Ashe Moyubba, George Mason University Dance Company, and Carla & Company. Her studies at George Mason University and educational travel with professor Jim Lepore to Santiago de Cuba opened a lasting connection to Cuban popular and social dance. In 2004 she continued her studies in Havana at the Instituto Superior de Arte, practiced daily with a neighborhood Rueda de Casino team and appeared on the Cuban television program Para Bailar Casino. That first Rueda performance was an early milestone in the journey that led her to found DC Casineros.

Amanda’s Cuban dance training has included Aramis Pazos and Oscar Rousseaux. In Santiago de Cuba, she studied Haitian dance with Cutumba and Casino styling with Yanek Revilla. She has shared that training through teaching at Dance Place, DC Dance Collective, congresses, schools and festivals. Capital Congress · 2012.

Amanda’s movement style draws on the body isolations of Son and rumba, Orisha dance traditions, and modern dance. She earned an MA in Dance/Movement Therapy from Lesley University, worked as a family therapist in Boston, and taught Rueda de Casino at the Masacote School. In 2012 she returned to Washington to co-direct, teach, and perform with DC Casineros.

Amanda’s 2011 master’s dissertation at Lesley University examined group social dance and relationships between hospital staff and patients. This research brought her Rueda de Casino practice into conversation with dance/movement therapy and her interest in building connection through shared movement. Explore Amanda’s professional work.

Her festival history includes participation on the Cubamemucho staff in Europe with Adrian Valdivia and Patricia Rivera in 2009, and the Ritmos Latinos Indiana Workshop & Fiesta with Adrian in April 2016. She brings her dance and family programming experience to DC Casineros’ youth and family programs.

Patricia Elisa Rivera, known as Patty, is a Founding Member, Choreographer, and Current Trainer of DC Casineros. She began dancing during her youth in Santo Domingo. Her movement background includes fifteen years of gymnastics as well as ballet and modern dance.

Patricia began studying Afro-Cuban folkloric dance as an undergraduate at George Mason University. Her training in Cuban folkloric and popular dance has taken her to the United States, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Argentina, and Spain.

As a member of Ashe Moyuba, she trained closely with Oscar Rousseux Pons. She also studied extensively with Danys “La Mora” Pérez, whose work includes Cutumba and Oyu Oro. Her broader dance experience includes Urban Artistry in Washington, DC.

In 2009, Patricia joined Amanda Gill and Adrian Valdivia on the Cubamemucho festival staff in Europe. She continues to contribute choreography and training to DC Casineros, drawing on her experience in Afro-Cuban dance, Cuban popular dance and other movement traditions. More about the company’s international journey.

A Fulbright alumna, Patricia brings an interest in culture and social connection to her artistic work.

DC Casineros Instructor

Lisa Berroa is an instructor with DC Casineros. Meet Lisa and the other teaching artists who share Cuban dance through our company and community programs.

Explore our classes · Meet the company

Sito Sasieta, also published as Alfonso “Sito” Sasieta, is a Peruvian-American poet, Principal Dancer, and Instructor with DC Casineros. A longstanding company member based in the Washington, DC area, he brings Cuban dance, music, poetry, and community building into his artistic life.

Sito is Outreach Coordinator for L’Arche Greater Washington, DC, a community of people with and without intellectual disabilities. His writing has appeared in Michigan Quarterly Review, Image, Sojourners, Red Wheelbarrow, and other literary journals.

Sito is a contributor to Capital Love, a Washington Writers’ Publishing House anthology featuring writers from the Washington region. Explore Capital Love.

His poetry also explores Cuban dance and music: “Dancing Contratiempo in Advent” reflects on Casino’s rhythmic timing and partner connection, while “What We Want in a Montuno” draws on the energy and rhythms of Cuban music.

As both a performer and an instructor, Sito contributes to DC Casineros’ dance and community work. His published poems offer another way to encounter the rhythm, connection, and shared experience of Cuban music and dance.

Master Teacher; Choreographer; Director of All Stars Santiago de Cuba

Jorge Luna Roque is the founder, director and choreographer of All Stars Santiago de Cuba. For more than twenty years, he has shared Casino, Rueda de Casino and Cuban popular dance through performances, festivals, workshops and international exchange.

His choreography grows from the social foundations of Casino and a close relationship between movement and music. With All Stars, he has developed a distinctive approach to group choreography that combines traditional dance with creative staging, musical interpretation and the collective energy of the rueda.

For DC Casineros, Jorge and All Stars are part of our longstanding artistic family in Santiago de Cuba. Our relationship connects company training, cultural exchange and a shared commitment to Cuban dance as a living community practice.

Watch & Learn

All Stars Santiago de Cuba · Casino choreography.

Watch on YouTube · Read Jorge’s interview

Photo: DC Casineros archive.

Meet our Artistic Board · Explore our international work

Master Teacher in Afro-Cuban Dance; Choreographer; Cultural Educator

Marisol Blanco is a Cuban-born dancer, choreographer and master teacher based in Miami. She directs Sikán Afro Cuban Dance Project and shares the history, music and movement of Afro-Cuban folkloric and popular dance with students and audiences across the United States.

Raised in Guanabacoa, Havana, in a family of musicians, she developed her knowledge through family traditions, formal arts training and professional performance. Her experience includes Obiní Batá, Cuba’s pioneering women’s percussion and dance ensemble. Her teaching connects movement with the songs, rhythms, stories and cultural meanings that give each dance its character.

Marisol received the 2024 Florida Folk Heritage Award in recognition of her work preserving and sharing Cuban cultural traditions. Her knowledge offers a valuable resource for dancers seeking a deeper understanding of Afro-Cuban dance and its musical foundations.

Watch & Learn

Meet Marisol through her official Florida Folk Heritage Award video profile.

Watch on YouTube · Visit Marisol and Sikán

Photo via The Museum of Miami. Marisol’s Florida Folk Heritage Award.

Meet our Artistic Board

Artistic Board Member and Master Teacher · 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

Read his career interview

Meet our Master Teachers & Collaborators

Photo via Buena Vista Turro Martinez.