On a Monday night in August, timba music spilled from the open windows of Dance Mission Theater at 24th and Mission streets as choreographer Ramón Ramos Alayo called out steps to a crowded class. The dancers moved in a circle, switching partners and trying to keep up with his commands in rueda de casino, a Cuban partner dance that blends elements of salsa and square dancing. The class was loud and playful; dancers laughed when turns went wrong and the circle tangled. Alayo, artistic director of the San Francisco nonprofit CubaCaribe, has taught at Dance Mission for decades. The organization works to preserve traditions of Cuba and the Caribbean diaspora, and his classes offer Bay Area residents a hands-on connection to those cultures. But Alayo’s relationship with Cuba extends beyond dance. Friends and family there rely on him as the country faces a deepening economic and energy crisis. While he leads classes in San Francisco, he watches conditions at home worsen, with the crisis reaching into daily life. That contrast follows him into the studio: a night of music, movement and shared rum in San Francisco, alongside concern for people back in Cuba. For students swapping partners beneath Dance Mission’s open windows, the class is a chance to learn a dance. For Alayo, it is also part of sustaining a cultural connection across distance.