Airmen salsa for Latin night

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Allison M. Boehm
  • 2d Bomb Wing Public Affairs
Barksdale Air Force Base; La. --  More than 50 Latin enthusiasts showed up to support Barksdale's second Latin Night May 29 at The Stripes Club. 

Tech. Sgt. Nigel Skeete, 2d Maintenance Operation Squadron non-commissioned officer in charge of plans, scheduling and documentation and Senior Airman Juan Lopez, 2d Force Support Squadron enlisted performance report section specialist, organized the event. 

"We wanted to put this event together to celebrate the Latin community and encourage others to come out and get involved," said Airman Lopez. "We really wanted to get Airmen from the dorms to come out as well as members of the base populace to show them this culture and get them involved in something really positive." 

Sergeant Skeete and civilian, Ivonne Aluarez kicked off the night by taking to the floor to dance the salsa. Once the ice was broken, other attendees piled on the dance floor to dance to the Latin-based music. 

"I have been dancing for years," said Ms. Aluarez. "I grew up with this music in my house so it is very exciting and fun to come out here and take part in Latin night." 

During the middle of the event, the Latin dance group, Los Caribeños, performed the dance, Rueda de Casino for the attendees to enjoy. 

The Rueda de Casino started in Cuba in the mid 20th century. In Cuba, the dancers used to gather in large halls, called "casinos." When the casinos closed, people still referred to the dance style by using the name of the places where people used to gather to do it and the name stuck. Nowadays people refer to the music as salsa and the dance as casino. 

After Los Caribeños finished their demonstration, attendees again flooded the dance floor. 

As onlookers came and went, the Latin music never stopped. The crowd stayed and danced until 1 a.m. 

"I came out tonight for a few reasons," said Airman 1st Class Shelly SanMartin, 2d FSS personnelist. "I am Peruvian, so I wanted to support the Latin community. Events like these are important," she continued. "Latin night provided a great night for those of us who are underage. It was a safe, fun way to spend my Friday night. Also, I came last time and it was so much fun--I love dancing salsa." 

Sergeant Skeete and Airman Lopez plan on organizing a base Latin night at least once a month for the future. 

"We missed having Latin night," said Airman Lopez. "It not only serves as a morale builder for the base populace, but it also unites people of different backgrounds form a cultural point of view. This event was very successful--people came out to dance and had a great time and we look forward to putting on another great event next month."
The stripes club will host another Latin night June 19.