As students leave their evening classes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, they might hear the upbeat rhythms of salsa drifting from the rooftop of Parking Garage I — it’s where the UCF Latin Rhythm club meets for weekly dance lessons.
The main goal of the UCF Latin Rhythm class is to foster community, regardless of your heritage, through music and dance.
Phoenix Dones, a senior biology major and secretary of the club, explained that even from a young age, she has felt a disconnect from her Mexican-Puerto Rican culture, having grown up in a predominantly white area.
“I think that disconnect led me to salsa, and I never danced before,” Dones said.
The club takes pride in empowering young dancers and welcoming everyone, regardless of their level of experience.
“I just noticed people embrace you no matter your background or anything like that, and they just empower you to keep on dancing and getting better,” Dones said.
Mathew Ruiz, a junior aerospace engineering major and president of the club, in contrast, has grown up in Miami with an extensive background in dancing. From a young age, he has learned a variety of dancing styles, extending from theatre to jazz.
Considering that dance can be an expensive hobby, with some studios in Orlando ranging from $20-$25 per class, Ruiz was lucky enough to have a lot of opportunities through family and friends to be able to participate in dance lessons.
Accessibility is something Ruiz and the rest of the board members take into great consideration, with a participation cost of $40-$50 for the entire year.
“We tell them that they are not going to find this anywhere else,” Ruiz said. “You’re never going to get an opportunity like this. Take advantage of it.”
In addition to serving as club president, Ruiz also teaches dance and leads the club’s performance team. The club is divided into levels, starting with beginner classes. As members improve, they have the opportunity to become instructors and eventually join the performance team.
“[The performance team] is a great way for them to keep practicing and pushing themselves further, and then it represents the clubs,” Ruiz said. “Whenever we get asked to help out with events, we can always give them a performance, which is good outreach.”
Vice President Daniel Figueroa, junior photonic science engineering major, is a prime example of how fast people learn to dance and how fast they become enamored and addicted to dancing.
“I went from knowing nothing to now I perform with the club on the performance team that the club has,” Figueroa said. “We dance bachata.”
In the first week at the beginning of the semester, the club managed to host nearly 200 people on casino night, which they host every Tuesday night.
“We work with other schools, so we always travel to Gainesville, Tallahassee, Miami, because all the other universities have Latin dance clubs as well,” Ruiz said. “We love going and performing over there, having them come.”
Figueroa said that another goal of the club is to have more Hispanic and non-Hispanic young people socialize with each other through dance. He elaborates on the fact that many Hispanic young adults like him have once felt disconnected from their heritage, and having this club as a great way to unite with it.
“We’re really trying to bring a younger audience to the dance scene and teach them how to dance because it’s a lot of fun and it’s a great way to meet new people,” Figueroa said.
Figueroa recalls spending time with family in Puerto Rico during Christmas and New Year’s growing up, being engulfed in Latin music and watching friends and family joyfully dancing.
“There’s lots of get-togethers and they’re playing music and the older folks will be dancing and it just always seemed fun,” Figueroa said.
The UCF Latin Rhythm club prioritizes community amongst Hispanic and non-Hispanic students alike. The instructors glory in the prospect of sharing the knowledge they learned in the club of Latin dance.
“We’re doing them justice and I love seeing the eagerness to grow,” Ruiz said. “Some of these people try it one day for fun and then they realize how hooked they are on it, so I’m like, we’re going to go all the way. You guys are going to learn today.”