Miami celebrates National Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month with dance

Oxford community members came together to celebrate the National Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month at Shriver Center on Friday, Sept. 13. The special event, Celebrating Culture Through Music and Dance, invited attendees of all backgrounds to participate and experience Latin traditional food, music and dance.

The Office of Transformational and Inclusive Excellence (OTIE) hosted the event in the Shriver Center’s Heritage Room. Tekeia Howard, the office’s director for programming, who organized the event, started with an opening speech before introducing the featured guest, The Salsa Center, who traveled to Oxford from Lexington, Kentucky for the event.

The instructors from the Salsa Center taught guests step-by-step how-to dances, such as the salsa and bachata. The lesson was beginner-friendly and didn’t require previous experience. The participants then paired up and danced to music. The room filled with the laughter of first-timers messing up their feet while the veterans moved their hips flawlessly.

After the first 90-minutes session, participants sat down together and enjoyed the homemade traditional Hispanic food that OTIE had prepared.

After dinner, participants moved back to the Heritage Room and watched the Salsa Center’s instructors perform as part of the celebration. The guests danced for the rest of the night.

dotm@miamioh.edu