The Latin American Student Association, in an effort to expose
and share the different aspects of Latin American culture, will
have a free outdoor festival this Saturday from 10 a.m. until 7
p.m. in Wilson Plaza.
The seventh-annual Festival Latino includes an exhibition of
Latino culture through live music performance, traditional food,
dance, art and arts-and-crafts activities for children. A renowned
merengue orchestra group from New York, Oro Solido, headlines the
festival.
“We are recognized as Latin Americans, united by the
Spanish language and the shared experience of being conquered
peoples,” said Rosemarie Lerma, a third-year political
science and Chicana/o studies student and festival codirector.
“What unites us is the richness of our experience, our foods
and our love of music. We love the culture and take pride in who we
are. What LASA is trying to do is to bring out that sentiment
through Festival Latino.”
Musical performers gather from all walks of Latin America to
perform at Festival Latino. Groups include Mariachi Alma del Sol,
Orquesta Charangoa (a salsa group), Son Mayor (a merengue
orchestra) and Hermanos Herrera (playing norteno music), a group of
three brothers who are UCLA students.
“We’re bringing the whole community together through
the music by bringing Mexican bands, Central American bands, even
bands from California,” said Tony Gutierrez, a fifth-year
sociology and psychology student.
Several dance groups will also perform on stage, engaging in
traditional and modern Latin American dance. The festival features
the association’s student-run dance troupes, including the
Salsa Troupe, the Ladies (hip-hop) Troupe, and the Merengue
Troupe.
“The Merengue Troupe has been together since fall quarter,
with weekly practices and rehearsals,” said Luis Hernandez, a
third-year sociology student, Festival Latino coordinator and
Merengue Troupe participant. “We like to go out there, dance
and represent LASA. Merengue is pretty big in my home country,
Nicaragua, and the music has always caught my attention. Getting
together to express Latino American culture through the art of
dancing is a new thing to me.”
The music tuned to the dance is a vital part of the performance,
according to those involved in the process. While the dancers
represent Latin American culture through movement in tradition and
modernity, the music showcases its essential elements in a way
similar to that of a mix tape.
“The music for the troupes is taken from popular Latin
American songs,” said Gutierrez. “We cut it up, mix it
up, and record it. Everyone in the community listens to these songs
daily. It’s part of our culture, instrumental in our way of
life. This festival is the pinnacle of it all: It brings it all
together in one day-long festival.”