The Daily Campus

Issue date: 4/6/09 Section: Focus

Media Credit: Ed Ryan Performers at Latin Fest 2009 in Jorgensen had audience members up on their feet dancing the salsa.

It may have been a damp and windy Saturday evening in Storrs, but in the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts it was a vibrant night. UConn students gathered in their finest threads to watch, listen and participate in Latin Fest 2009.

The event, put on by the Puerto-Rican and Latin-American Cultural Center (PR/LACC), involved food, drinks, a live band and dancing - lots of it. Bright lights flooded the dance floor as PRLACC's very own Bring Awareness Into Latino Ethnicities (B.A.I.L.E.) dancers started the night off with several performances.

Chris Watson, a 6th-semester political science and economics double major, participated in B.A.I.L.E. dance routines last year. He said the group starts practices in January and meet three to four times a week to rehearse their routines. Watson explained that a lot of hard work goes into the practices. On Saturday, the group began rehearsing at noon. Even after Latin Fest, they would still be dancing at the after-parties, he said.

Two senior couples from B.A.I.L.E. performed pieces followed by two large group performances. The choreographed dance routines showcased PR/LACC members' talent and hard work. Males spun and twirled their female partners around and moved their feet to the bold Latin music.

Krystal Hubyk, an 8th-semester biology major, came to Latin Fest for a second time. She came this year to support a friend who performed in B.A.I.L.E. Hubyk said she enjoyed the fest.

"I love the fact that they have live music," she said.

After receiving applause and praise from the audience the BAILE dancers took their bows and a live band featuring Ray Gonzalez and com pany took the stage. One couple made their way onto the dance floor, and within seconds dozens of other dancers followed the brave couple's lead. Partners and groups of friends all shook their hips and moved their feet to the maracas, bongo drums and trumpets playing loud, fast paced tunes.

By the second song the dance floor was full. Dancers were back-to-back with one another. Some couples and friends laughed at one another as they tried to salsa, while others locked eyes, very serious about dancing.

Tricia Jamandre, a 4th-semester accounting major, was going to hit the dance floor with friends as soon as they had something to eat. Dining Services offered plates of chicken and Spanish rice for $10.

"It's a nice thing to be exposed to," Jamandre said.

Watson said Latin Fest is PR/LACC's biggest event of the year and the center looks forward to it all semester. But with UConn's shrinking budget, the event could be cut, he said.

But on Saturday, tough economic times didn't faze the young or the old, who danced the night away.

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