Food management junior Robert Cordero, right, dances the tinikling, a dance from the Philippines that involves hitting bamboo poles against the ground while people dance between them, Wednesday evening at McDonel Hall Kiva.
Sore muscles may have greeted them Thursday morning, but that didn’t keep students from attempting dances such as the merengue and the bachata at “Movimiento Saboroso,” hosted by Culturas de las Razas Unidas, or CRU, on Wednesday night.
The event was part of Semana Latina — a week dedicated to exposing students to Latin culture.
“Part of what the whole week is about is shattering those stereotypes of what people think is Latin America. We want to show them much more,” said Jack Edukere, co-chairman of CRU.
The purpose of Tuesday’s panel topic, La Importancia de Unidad, was to discuss how to actively pursue that goal as well as how to unite the Latin community.
The panel included Claudia Gonzalez, a member of Movimiento Estudiantil Xicano de Aztlan; Frederick Combs of Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity; and Edukere.
“The issue of unity is very important when it comes to talking about marginalized communities. … We are so heavily impacted by racism, sexism, homophobia and all the other ‘-isms’ and it’s something that consistently happens to people who identify as oppressed,” Gonzalez said. “Bringing people together and letting people know that we’re here for each other and that we can support each other in many, many ways, is very important.”
One conclusion the panel came to was that people have to be more open-minded to achieve unity. The panel also suggested increasing communication among organizations and collaborating on events.
Edukere added the panel discussion brings the community one step closer.
Wednesday’s Movimiento Saboroso sought to involve students in Latin culture by introducing them to traditional dances. The Filipino-American Student Society and La Casa, a student organization that promotes the Spanish language and Hispanic traditions, joined CRU to teach the dances.
“Dance is a large part of every culture and to fully express who we are as Latinos here on campus and throughout the world, we wanted to put on a program that expresses who we are as dancers,” said CRU program facilitator Alex Torres.
Mikhail Assafov, a political science junior, attended Movimiento Saboroso simply expecting to learn salsa dancing, but gained knowledge of other dances, cultures and people by the end of the night. His favorite dance was a traditional Filipino dance called tinikling.
“(I like) tinikling because of the beat and the bamboo sticks and I’ve heard music I didn’t hear before,” he said.
The events of Semana Latina will wrap up this weekend. On Saturday, students can learn how to play various Latino games beginning at 2 p.m. in the Pub in Gilchrist Hall. Students can enjoy the taste of Latin foods during Sabor Latino at 7 p.m. Sunday in the CRU Room of Wilson Hall.
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