Hayley Metzler
Staff Writer
The Bandshell was pulsing with the sound of fast-paced Salsa music Friday night, Sept. 13.
FSC students, along with many prospective students, had gathered to witness the event known as “Salsa Magic.”
The Salsa Magic Interactive Latino Dance Party, otherwise known as Salsa Magic, with Lee “El Gringuito” and Kat “La Gata” has performed around the world with a one of a kind college-themed dance party that simply can not be missed.
Salsa Magic is a fun event that the Student Organization of Latinos puts on for Hispanic Awareness month where two professional Salsa dancers come and show students several traditional Spanish dances. However not all of the dances are Salsa.
The event includes salsa music, Spanish style food, and plenty of dancing.
There were a few tables set up in front of the Bandshell, and at first most students were just kind of sitting there, seeming a little bit timid.
But the Salsa dancers Lee and Kat were repeatedly shouting that “this isn’t a sit down and watch kind of show,” which put pressure on audience members to get up and join them onstage.
Once enough people were onstage, the dancing kicked off. Everyone grabbed a partner to practice the dances with, but no one kept the same partner for long.
The participants repeatedly switched partners to mix things up. The pairs danced to several traditional Salsa songs along with some more modern, hip-hop-style songs.
The dancing went on for hours until only four teams remained. Those teams kept the same partner rather than swapping, and then went on to compete with each other for the prize of a free Salsa dance lesson in Washington, D.C.
The winners were selected based on the enthusiasm of the audience’s applause. In the end, two out of the four teams were selected for the D.C. passes because both seemed to have received an equal amount of enthusiastic applause.
The teams selected were team two, which consisted of sophomores Korie Taylor and Sebastian Duque Pinto, and team three, which consisted of sophomore Francisco Quixtan and an unidentified prospective student.
Overall the best part about Salsa Magic was the fun, upbeat atmosphere and the high level of audience participation, not to mention the free food.
Afterwards, some people even stuck around to dance to popular tunes such as “The Cuban Shuffle,” “The Wobble” and “The Electric Slide.”
Students actually got to participate in a popular Hispanic cultural tradition rather than just hear some boring speech about it or read about it in a book.
To learn more about SOL and the different events they put on you can check out their website or visit the Center of Student Involvement.
