Spanish Club and SABE make spicy salsa
Rachel Mayhew, Daily Vidette Senior Staff
Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: Features
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The Spanish Club and the Student Association for Bilingual Education are both offering free salsa lessons.
"I believe that salsa is something that is very important in the Spanish culture. We want to show students how fascinating we find salsa," Marinelly Castillo-Suniga, Spanish lecturer, said.
Salsa dancing incorporates a unique blend of steps that fuse into a specific style. Salsa is a very expressive and passionate form of dance which is why it has the ability to entice many people to give it a try.
Salsa originated in Cuba, but has continued to prosper in other countries as well.
The dance is considered a mixture of popular Cuban dances such as the Mambo, Cuban Son and others. The dance itself tends to have a performance and social feel to it because of the passion that is associated with it.
According to Castillo-Suniga, the Spanish Club has been holding free salsa lessons since 2006. The lessons happen each semester and are eight weeks long.
Each lesson will take salsa to another level by having a more difficult dance move to learn the following week.
However, this does not mean that one has to attend each lesson in order to be successful. They are willing to accommodate everyone and try very hard to do so. It does not matter if you are a beginner or an expert at salsa dancing.
"It does get harder as the weeks go on but we can separate into two groups if one group is more advanced than the other," Castillo-Suniga said.
Castillo-Suniga, a native of Venezuela, has been dancing to salsa all her life and enjoys teaching others how to do so at the lessons. "I teach how I feel," Castillo-Suniga said.
Students who go will get the treat of learning more about the Spanish culture and will learn the basic steps of salsa. The one remaining class this year will be held on April 16.
No ID is needed and everyone is encouraged to attend the lessons. They are held in the basement of Atkin-Colby from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The Spanish Club is not the only organization on campus that is offering free salsa lessons to students. The Student Association for Bilingual Education (SABE) is offering free salsa lessons as a part of their Bilingual Advocacy Week.
SABE is an association that meets regularly to discuss different topics regarding bilingual education. The meetings will also include different strategies of becoming a bilingual teacher.
"The salsa lessons are a part of our Bilingual Advocacy Week. It is the last event we are holding for the week. It is basically for anyone who is interested in learning about salsa," Katie Smith, a junior bilingual education major, said.
This is the second time that the club is hosting free salsa lessons as a part of their Bilingual Advocacy Week.
"We really want to make our presence known on-campus and we want to promote our organization," Smith said.
Since salsa tends to be a partner dance, the club will ensure that people have someone to dance with but still allows them the opportunity to leave whenever they wish to.
"Once we have enough people and they pair us up, we begin to learn the move. Students are able to leave whenever they want though," Smith said.
One of the big event days for SABE is on Wednesday, April 16. During the day, they will be spending time with the children at Metcalf School, teaching them about multicultural ideas and that evening there will be a speaker. On Tuesday, they will be having a bake sale in DeGarmo Hall.
This is the opportunity for students to learn about the Spanish culture while still having fun.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Katrina
posted 4/11/08 @ 8:14 AM CST
FYI- As a member of Spanish Club and a former student of Marinelly's, I'm almost 100% sure her last name is spelled Castillo-ZUNIGA. I can understand how that could be confused as both of her surnames are not listed on People Finder but just thought you should be aware. (Continued…)
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