Food wasn't the only thing that was zesty and spicy in the Student Union on Thursday, as the Latin American Student Association and the Nadia Ibrahim Middle Eastern dance troupe treated students to two flavorful dance performances as part of International Education Week.
The girls of Alma Nanichi, LASA's dance group, showed students what salsa and bachata dancing was all about as they twirled their partners around the dance floor.
Alma Nanichi – meaning 'heart of the soul' – performs at various events, including the International Fiesta and the LASA's annual heritage banquet.
Andrea Ortiz, a senior health and human services major and a dance liaison for LASA, helps choreograph and bring diversity to the routines Alma Nanichi performs.
'We have been devoted to representing as many Latin American cultural and modern dances as possible, honoring the sacred three cultures of indigenous, European and African influences,' Ortiz said. '[Coming from] Colombian descent, I incorporated Colombian style salsa into [the dance].'
According to Ortiz, bachata, which originated in the Dominican Republic, and salsa, which came from the Caribbean, are both dominant styles of dance in Latin culture.
'I started here in college doing performances, but I've been dancing my whole life,' Ortiz said. 'It's embedded in my culture. In my family, there's a lot of salsa influence and songs I grew up with.'
According to Ortiz, both styles of dance have distinct footwork, form and feeling.
'Bachata is a little bit more sensual than most dances. Salsa is a little more fast-paced and involves more spinning,' Ortiz said.
LASA looks forward to International Education Week because it gives students the chance to learn something new and see another side of their peers, according to Oritz.
'For me, it gives the college community more of a cultural awareness,' said Darlene Peña, a senior architecture major and member of Alma Nanichi. 'Once they're exposed to [other cultures], they'll be more aware of them and want to investigate them further.'
After Alma Nanichi performed, the Nadia Ibrahim Middle Eastern dance troupe, which performs at local shows in the community, shimmied out to the floor.
Draped in colorful, streaming fabric, the dance troupe performed different belly dances with props such as scarves, veils and zills, or finger cymbals.
Morgan Denton, a graduate student in the Department of History, has been belly dancing for a little over a year, and joined the dance troupe because she loves learning new Middle Eastern styles.
'Almost all Middle Eastern dance costumes have a hip scarf to show the movement of the hips,' Denton said. 'It's very showy.'
As a history major, Denton finds learning about different cultures fascinating.
'[Dance] is an interesting way of learning the history of different cultures without just reading out of a book and by actually participating in it,' Dention said.
The performances attracted many spectators and students passing through the union. The foreign sounds were what first lured Marcus Epps, a sophomore childhood education major.
'I enjoyed the performances. At first I wasn't even going to watch, but the music was catchy,' Epps said.
International education week provides students with the opportunity to broaden their horizons, and according to Epps, UB is the best place to learn about different cultures because it is such a large, diverse campus.
'I never would have seen something like that performance anywhere else,' Epps said. 'It's a new experience.'
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