HomeNEWSNew Student Group Moves Feet to Latin Beat

New Student Group Moves Feet to Latin Beat

By KAYLA ROYSTER
Contributing Writer

As a new year quickly approaches, many opportunities arise. Sabor Latino is a new dance club created by students Michael Lopez, Elenie Martinez and Kenny Ribot that aspires “to achieve cultural awareness of the Hispanic community” said Elenie.

The idea formed when Lopez, Martinez and Ribot watched each other perform at different events around campus such as Orgullo Latino, an event hosted to showcase Latino pride. They were given compliments on their dancing as well as asked questions by those who wanted to learn. Combining their knowledge and their love of Hispanic culture, the idea for Sabor Latino was born.

The nascent club hopes to serve the campus community by providing a chance to learn and enjoy cultural dances, because it is not something often seen around Saint Rose. The club plans on operating in two facets: learning and performance. Certain times are set aside for Ribot and other executive board members to teach dance styles including bachata, salsa and merengue, while other times are for walk-ins that will focus on basic steps, turns and choreography.

“Sabor Latino is not exclusive to Hispanics, we aim to teach to all backgrounds because if you can walk, you can dance,” said Carlos Mora.

The president, Michael Lopez, and vice president Elenie Martinez have been performing since high school, where they met and were involved in a salsa group.

“Dance has always kept us in harmony and has been a way to express ourselves, so for us it was about starting something that kept us together as couple and helped us bond with others, because to us dancing is the hidden language of the soul,” said Elenie.

In their freshman year at the College, the two performers met Ribot, who is filling the role of dance captain for Sabor Latino. Both Lopez and Martinez were happy to meet someone such as Ribot, with his great dancing moves and love for the dance styles bachata and salsa. They felt that he would bring just what they needed to make Sabor Latino possible.

The formation of the club was made possible with the help and support of the rest of the executive board, which includes Dayana Pichardo as secretary, Carlos Mora for public relations and Luis Rodriguez as treasurer, along with Ribot.

The meaning behind the name Sabor Latino extends beyond the literal translation of “latin flavor.”

“We thought we needed to add a little ‘sazon’ to the school as us Hispanics say sometimes which means we wanted to add some flavor to the school,” said Lopez, with naming credit being given to Martinez.

“Come get a taste of Sabor Latino!” said Rodriguez.

The founders of the club expect that Sabor Latino will help represent both those of Hispanic culture that wish to be brought to light and non-Hispanic cultures who wish to learn. Spectrum, the ALANA Student Union, is supporting Sabor Latino and the club is going the process of being approved by Student Association so that it can be around for “centuries to come,” said Martinez.

“Sabor Latino is a mix of excitement, because like Catherine Pulsifier said, ‘We are all different which is great because we are all unique. Without diversity life would be very boring,’” said Ribot. The message that this club hopes to produce is that no matter your culture or where you’re from, dance can be used as the bridge that unites people.

“In this case to teach our Saint Rose community about Hispanic culture,” said Lopez. “We plan to finally reach those Hispanics who have been waiting for a group like this.” The club hopes for people of all cultures to unite and understand and get to know each other.

Another aspect the club hopes to achieve is to become a group that performs at events. Anyone can join the club, but the performance group will be determined by audition.

“Here at Sabor Latino we believe that with the right tools anyone can learn and perform salsa, merengue and bachata just as much as many of us who learned it at home because it is our culture,” said Lopez.

“The club’s about rising together. If you rise together you can never fall,” said Dayana Pichardo. A goal of theirs is to participate in Midknight Madness next year. The club feels it will be a way to show Saint Rose’s representation of the Hispanic culture through the club’s performance and dedication to its culture. “At the end of the day we are all a family—a Saint Rose family,” said Martinez.

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