Maiko Tanabe – The Aquinian
The night full of dancing and music brought more than 150 people of different ages and cultures to the other side of the continent Saturday.
The Latin Undergraduate Association hosted Spanish Night Live, where unique rhythm and beats from all over the Latin American countries echoed.
Performances came from Spain, Central America, and South American dancing and singing.
Cesar Morales is one of the performers at the event. He came to Canada in 1991 and now teaches music at the Multicultural Association.
He said he sometimes feels people can get a wrong impression about Latin America through the media.
“I think [this event] is a way to understand each other. This is very important that people can enjoy the different side of the media.”
Gustavo Javier Chavez is the vice president of the Latin Undergraduate Association and one of the organizers of the event.
He said this gives them an opportunity to show the cultural richness in the Fredericton community.
“Most of us are important members of a university community, so we are known by a lot of people individually,” he said.
“But as a group, we lack of unity. So the importance of this event is not only to unite Latin Americans, but also we are here to entertain people.”
The festival full of exotic music and the room decorated with the national flags hung from the ceiling and on the wall lit up the night of the partygoers.
Jeremy Trenholm is one of the partygoers, and he says he was entertained with the performances.
“I really enjoyed it tonight. I liked the dancing and the singing,” he said. “It shows a little bit of their culture.”
One of the songs Morales played is called “Mediterranean.” It’s a song about a poet who fell in love with Mediterranean Sea. He had to leave there, yet still remembers the sea vividly.
“I liked the song because [the song] tells you who you are,” said Morales. “It’s important to know who you are and where you are going to.”
Chavez said there are lot of Latin American people in Fredericton, who are interested in dancing, singing and socializing with people from a different culture.
“We have many different cultures out there from the different parts of the world,” he said.
“So this is a way to show Fredericton who we are.”
