Elena Oliveira, a vocalist with the Northwestern Latin Music Ensemble and a junior to Bienen and Weinberg, has one piece of advice for those learning salsa.
“When in doubt, move your hips,” she said.
On Wednesday, NU’s Spanish Club hosted a live music and dance event in Harris Hall featuring a Latin music ensemble.
In front of an audience of about 50 people, the Latin music ensemble performed 11 songs in a variety of Latin genres, from salsa to cumbia, a percussion-heavy Colombian style.
Before the band began, band leaders Misael Juarez, a sophomore at SESP, and Natalia Rene, a sophomore at Weinberg, gave a five-minute Latin dance lesson.
Band members encouraged attendees to fill the venue and dance throughout the evening’s performances.
“The big thing about Latin dance is that it brings people together," Rene says. “It’s like a specific step that you’re doing, and you can do it with anyone. If you know the type of dance, you can pair up.”
In fact, many participants who first danced salsa in pairs continued to do so in subsequent songs.
Attendee and Weinberg sophomore Sofia Castano said she tried out Latin dancing with Alianza, NU’s Latinx student alliance. But experience didn’t matter in this event.
“They bring a great atmosphere to the event,” Castano said. “Anyone can dance, even if they don’t have any dance knowledge.”
Spanish professor Jacob Brown said musical events were attracting the most interest. Last spring, the club hosted Honduran percussionist Jonathan Alarcón to perform and teach students.
There, Brown met Juarez and noticed that he played Alarcon’s drums.
“He was just going into town. I was surprised,” Brown said. “I reached out and got his contact information and also asked him if he would be interested in working with a club in Spain, and he just happened to be the leader of this great band.”
Juarez is also minoring in music and started a Latin music ensemble in the winter of her freshman year. He formed a similar band at his high school during his junior year.
After Alarcón’s visit to NU, Juarez met with him via Zoom to learn punta, a musical style from Belize and Honduras.
Juárez then began playing punta in Latin music ensembles. After one performance, his classmates approached him and told him they were from a country that also listened to this genre.
“I knew exactly what he was feeling because I felt it myself,” Juarez said. “He was very happy to see his culture represented.”
Because of this, he said, the band plays different musical styles from different countries in its performances.
The Latin music ensemble has grown from 18 to 35 members, Juarez said. He said he currently supplies everything from trumpets to saxophones, congas and timbales.
Juarez said the band performed 10 times last year. The next performance will be at The Rock on Saturday from 4 to 8 p.m.
Brown said he hopes to see more interactive music events.
“At Spanish Club, not everyone has to know Spanish to participate,” Brown said. “We also focus on universal things like culture, dance and food.”
Email: (email protected)
Related articles:
— ASG Cultural Summit introduces music groups and affinity groups
— Spanish author Fernando López Rodríguez presents his book to the Spanish and Portuguese Bureau
— Te Cong Te improves speaking skills for Spanish students
