Yesterday September 15th, the Diner Atrium became a latin dance floor. With the purpose of welcoming Hispanic Heritage Month, Chicano Bachateros gave dance lessons to SXU students. They played a variety of Latin music; from bachata to salsa, and from cumbia to banda.
The lessons began from 11am and ended at 1pm. Many students came in at different times and others even stayed and danced for the whole event.
During the dance lessons, the Xavierite spoke with Aurelio Mendez, who is a member of Chicano Bachateros. He expressed his enjoyment of hosting this event on campus.
“I feel very proud (of this event). The fact that we are playing latin music in this university which is mainly com
posed by [caucasian] people is incredible. I hope everyone joins us,” said Mendez.
Although he is a freshmen, he is already in the process of belonging to the executive board of this RSO. “I always wanted to dance but I didn’t know how to, so this was the perfect opportunity to learn how to dance bachata and all the latin music, and I’m learning! . . . Being part of the team is an incredible experience . . . you create this relationship with all the people and they end up being part of a family for you,” said Mendez.
Many students showed up and danced along the latin music. The executive board members of Chicano Bachateros helped guide the others with the moves. The Xavierite spoke with a few students regarding their opinion about the event.
“I think it’s really cool. I didn’t grow up with this culture so it’s really interesting to know about it and hear [the music] and dance. I know a couple of dances [thanks to] my friends,” said Monica Justice, SXU sophomore, “my favorite dance is El Caballo Dorado!”
“I think it’s pretty good to get people involved in this event . . . in the school there’s a lot of people who don’t know about bachata but they were dancing cumbia and latin music,” said senior Stephanie Reyes, who is looking forward to another Chicano Bachateros event. “It would be nice to have more people involved and more people come in so they can know about this kind of music.”
Ruben Robles, president of Chicano Bachateros, said the outcome of the event was good overall. Several students signed up to become members of the RSO during the dance lessons. Robles hopes more students attend Super Saturday, which is the next event coming up on October 1st that will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.
Miryam Villarreal
Senior News Editor