LatinX Heritage month is celebrated in October. On October 23rd, the Coalition for D.E.I.B. hosted a Latinx dance class in the small gym during lunch. Students and staffulty were able to learn different types of Latinx dances such as bachata, salsa, and cumbia. The participants were able to dance as singles and as pairs. This event was led by EFS coordinator Camilia Soto.

“Dance in the LatinX community is very important because it is part of our culture and traditions. I dance a lot in my family parties and it’s a way for us to celebrate and have fun together,” shared Soto. “I really hope that number one, the students learned how to dance LatinX dances. And I feel like dancing is very much part of my family and I feel like the NDB community is an extension of my family. So I hope that they are able to enjoy something that’s part of the LatinX culture.”

Junior Claire Nguyen, vice president of the Coalition for D.E.I.B, helped organize this event. “So we wanted to celebrate something for Latinx heritage month. So we thought it would be a good idea to showcase one of the most central aspects of their culture, which is dance and so we asked Ms. Soto to do a dance tutorial,” explained Nguyen.

“I just really hope they had fun learning about something new because I know it could be watched and it can be like, oh, something that’s like, viewed as interesting, or yeah, whatever. But I feel like people don’t ever get the chance to actually try it because it’s not their culture, so, I really hope they learn to have fun and that other cultures are cool,” said Nguyen.

Participating in activities such as dance can be a fun way of learning more about a culture. Students were able to learn the different types of dances and be exposed to the LatinX community. We hope students were able to have fun and learn more about the LatinX culture.