by Olivia Young
The smell of fresh empanadas wafted through the air as attendees moved their bodies to the rhythmic sounds of Tres De Solar, a Latin jazz and Puerto Rican salsa band, July 30 outside Lehman Center for the Performing Arts.
The event, Salsa Under the Stars, drew in about 300 Bronxites, according to organizers. Attendees also grooved to DJ Woody, or lingered near a booth run by The Salsa Project, a New York City-based movement that aims to preserve salsa music and encourage young people to get more involved in the genre.
Lehman alum Wilson Hernandez, an actor and martial arts trainer, said he attended in support of the college. Raised in a Dominican household, Hernandez said he’s personally more of a bachata dancer than salsa, but still admires it.
“I just kind of love the music, the aesthetics, the camaraderie,” Hernandez said of salsa.
Sarah Torres, who lives in Crotona Park East, and her mom, Jasmin Torres, who lives in New Rochelle, found out about the event from an Instagram post. Sarah Torres noted the deep roots salsa has in the city.
“Salsa was born out of resistance,” Sarah Torres said. “And a blend of cultures here in New York City. It’s beautiful to listen to, beautiful to dance to. It creates such a beautiful community, and we love to see it continue.”
Salsa’s core is son cubano, a style that originated in eastern Cuba, according to The Salsa Project. It was born in the late ‘60s in neighborhoods such as Hunts Point, Longwood, Mott Haven and Spanish Harlem, soon becoming an umbrella term for a mix of rumba, mambo and son montuno, among many others, the organization said.
Keywords
Lehman College,
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts,
Salsa Under the Stars,
Bronx,
salsa music,
Latin jazz,
Tres De Solar,
DJ Woody,
The Salsa Project,
Puerto Rican salsa,
son cubano,
New York City culture,
Bronx events,
community