Harper dance contest highlights Hispanic heritage

Harper College recently got a taste of Latin flavor, compliments of the Latinos Unidos club.

The annual Latin Dance Contest was held at the Palatine school in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs through Oct. 15.

Club president Juan Leyva emceed the event.

"We're giving people an array of dances of the Latino culture and showing how different they are," Leyva said. "And we've got a lot of really good dancers."

Nine couples took the stage and danced the bachata, merengue and salsa. Three pairs then moved on to the finals and did the cumbia, a flirtatious folk dance originating in Colombia.

A panel of judges scored contestants based on knowledge of the dances, rhythm, uniqueness and style.

The contest drew plenty of hoots and hollers from the crowd, which topped more than 200 students and faculty passing through the student center lounge.

In addition to celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, Latinos Unidos uses the dance contest as a forum to recruit performers for its big winter show, Sabor Latino. That event serves as a fundraiser for the annual scholarship the club awards.

This year's contest winners were Francisco Bravo, 21, of Mundelein and his partner Janete Jaimes, 18, of Elk Grove Village.

"This showed part of our culture and what we do for entertainment," said Jaimes, who is of Mexican descent.

Another finalist was a relative of Jaimes, Hanover Park resident Phae Gillet. The 18-year-old native of Belize says it's a given that dancing will highlight their family get-togethers.

The difference in the types of dances, Gillet said, is in the footwork and attitude.

"You have to be really sassy in the merengue and salsa, while the cumbia is very playful and happy," she said.

Gillet believes an event like this is good exposure for the Hispanic community.

"There are many things about Hispanic heritage that people don't know about," she said. "Just to see all the different types of dance can give people a better idea as to one small aspect of an important aspect of Hispanic life."

If you go

Latinos Unidos wraps up Hispanic Heritage Month with two more events at Harper College:

Film: "Motorcycle Diaries" will be shown at noon Wednesday; Building D. Free.

Trip: To the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago for a bilingual guided tour of the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead): A New Beginning exhibit; bus leaves Harper at 1:45 p.m. Oct. 26; tickets $5 for students, $15 for public.

Visit: www.harpercollege.edu or call (847) 925-6242