Spring Hill students participated in an instructional hands-on lesson on Latin dances in the Barter Student Center on September 22, as part of the Center for Student Involvement’s National Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations.
Sister Nelida Naeros-Cordova, the graduate program director and assistant theology professor, organized the event. “Dr. Paula Celis-Salazar [assistant professor of chemistry] came with the idea to do something special during Spanish heritage month,” Sister Nelida said. Celis-Salazar and Sister Nelida started with the idea to celebrate Hispanic Heritage by hosting a picture contest and a salsa night. Sister Nelida agreed to put on the event, “Especially for those who are not so familiar with Spanish culture and the music, the food. We want them [Spring Hill students] to know a little more about our culture, and who we are.”
With the help of Sister Nelida, Celis-Salazar taught students how to salsa, merengue and bachata before allowing students to “freestyle” the rest of the evening to an assortment of Latin music.
The event aimed to bring an appreciation and aware- ness to hispanic culture. “The Hispanic Heritage month is an event that is supposed to celebrate the culture and the heritage of Hispanic countries, the richness, geographically, historically and culturally but also the contributions of Hispanic people to the United States,” Celis-Salazar said.
SHC sophomore Nicole Balcazar said, “This is the first time I’ve celebrated Hispanic Heritage and I am super happy to hear my music and dance my dances and you see that somebody cares.”
Celis-Salazar said the Hispanic Heritage celebrations are only halfway through. “The kickoff event was the photo contest. We had like 57 participants, and we had around 200 people voting for the best picture. We had [Associate Professor of Communication Arts] Ryan Noble as the expert judging the pictures. We also had a writing hour with Dr. [Stephanie] Balmori [instructor of Modern Language], and today was the salsa night.”
Upcoming events include a movie night on October 13, at 6:30 p.m. in the cafeteria and Latin Fest on October 14, at 4 p.m. in downtown Mobile. The celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month ends on October 15.
For more information on the upcoming events for Hispanic Heritage Month, email the Center for Student Involvement at CSI@shc.edu. To watch the full video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZpGjbc0YZs.