Home / Fall 2012 / So you think you can salsa?

So you think you can salsa?

In Celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, the Latin American Student Association (LASA) hosted Salsa Night on Oct. 5 in the Cypress Room at the U.C

“We really wanted to have a day where the students on campus could come and enjoy a huge part of Latin American culture,” Joshua Gomez, president of LASA, said. “So we figured what’s better than having students come dance some salsa while celebrating Latin American culture.”

Students were given the chance to learn the basic steps of dances such as the meringue, samba and salsa from professional dance instructors Hannah Moore and Alvaro Leyva  of Motion Dance Studios.

 “The instructor was very fun, entertaining and showed everyone the salsa and meringue,” Luke Voigt,  a sophomore Spanish major, said. “I love the Hispanic culture and learning some dancing was amazing! I had a fantastic time!”

Moore and Leyva taught students the basic steps at an easy step-by-step rate.

“I was very pleased with the dance instructions,” Gomez said. “ Both the instructors did a very awesome job showing the basic steps at a slow motion not just doing a fast pace for them at the last part but even doing a slow pace. I think that by doing it that way, it made it easy for each and every person to jump in, even if they couldn’t learn the basic steps immediately. So overall they were amazing.”

Salsa Night was a great way for students to fully immerse themselves in Latin American culture.

“It was good,” Ashlee D. Robinson, a freshman biology major said. “I enjoyed it.”

Others were also inspired to get up and groove.

 “It was a lot of fun,”  Michelle Forbes, LASA advisor, said. “Everybody was dancing– we had professional dance instructors here who taught everybody to dance before the party really got started.”

Forbes felt the location played a key factor in the success of the event.

“I thought it was spectacular for the University Center away from campus,” Forbes said. “So many students showed up and we’re happy with the turnout. The next time is going to be a blast.”

Gomez was very pleased with the turnout and is looking forward to the next event.

 “It exceeded my expectations,” he said. “ Everyone pretty much just showed up and got engaged. We’re actually doing another salsa night. It will be in November.”

If you missed your chance to partake in the festivities, don’t worry. There will be more opportunities for you to participate in celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month.

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