Latin dancers entertain Veterans and employees at Dorn
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Instructors and students from the Esmeralda Dance Studio put on a demonstration of several dances as part of Hispanic Heritage Month at the Dorn campus of the Columbia VA Health Care System on September 20, 2023.
“The event was a great way to showcase and share various Latin rhythms and dances with VA employees and veterans,” said Wilfredo Solis, one of the event’s organizers. Solis was born in New Jersey and raised in Puerto Rico. He is a Transition Patient Advocate and Hispanic Employment Program Manager at CVAHCS.
The dancers performed a variety of dances from Argentina and Cuba, then asked for audience participation in the Dominican Republic Bachata. Bachata is a popular style of music and dance that originated in the Dominican Republic in the 1960s. It combines elements of bolero, merengue, son, and other Afro-Caribbean rhythms.
“Today, we’re doing a small basic beginner’s class of the Bachata,” said Harby Gonzales, the owner of the dance studio. Harby stated that they do a lot of demonstrations during Hispanic Heritage Month across the Midlands.
One of the Esmeralda students participating in the demonstration was Connie Collins, a Gap Nurse at the Women’s Health Center at CVAHCS. Collins became a student at the studio nine years ago when she signed up her three teenage sons for lessons.
“I signed them up so they wouldn’t look like they were falling asleep like all of the other boys dancing at the prom when they slow danced,” said Collins. “They and their girlfriends loved it. They started looking for proms to crash, just to be able to dance.”
During Hispanic Heritage Month, from September 15 to October 15, the US government celebrates the contributions of more than 60 million Hispanic Americans, the largest minority group in the United States today. The observation started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period. The period is significant because it is the anniversary of independence of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua on September 15; Mexico on September 16 and Chile on September 18. Columbus Day, October 12 also falls within this period.
“Several employees and veterans enjoyed the event and opportunity to learn some basic Latin dance steps,“ said Solis. “This was very well received by the audience present there today.”