School of Law students had a reason to take their noses out of their books, stop hiding out in the library and put on their dancing shoes Monday night to salsa dance.
South Asian Law Students Association and Latin American Students Law Association hosted a celebration to kick off diversity month at BU’s School of Law. About 65 students attended to eat multi-regional food and learn to salsa dance to a variety of music ranging from African tribal music to hip-hop.
‘Look around the room, there’s many people,’ LASLA Co-President Javier Castro said. ‘This event is always popular among the busy law students. This is great because we usually hide in the library.’
The South Asian food was catered by Punjab Palace and the Latin food was catered by Izzy’s Restaurant. The buffet-style table consisted of dishes like Paneer Butter Masala, Chicken Korma and Basmati Rice.
‘The food is always delicious here,’ Sasha Rao, a third-year LAW student, said.
Many attendees enjoyed plates of food while Essencia Latina, a multi-cultural dance group from Chelsea, danced in the front of the room.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
‘We incorporate many different types of music and dance styles: African, Arabic, Salsa and hip-hop,’ Julio Hernandez, an Essencia Latina dancer, said. ‘Anything you can move to, we dance to it. We are full of energy.’
Following the performance, event coordinators invited attendees to take Salsa dance lessons.
‘The performance was amazing,’ Sun said. ‘But now I’m excited to try dancing for myself, too. I was always interested in Salsa dancing, but never had the chance to learn it. I’m here tonight to try it.’
Rao said he is a member of both LASLA and SALSA because he enjoys learning about different cultures.
‘I’m here to meet the good cross of people at this one event,’ Rao said. ‘I enjoy both cultures.”
A month of hard work and preparation went into planning this celebration, LASLA Co-President Yomarie Silva said.
‘We had to try foods from different places and choose the best,’ Silva, a LAW student, said. ‘We also had to work out times with the performers, who were also here last year.’
Castro said he thinks the hard work was worth it, and that the night was a success.
‘I had fun,’ Sun said. ‘It was very impressive, and I think I will attend another SALSA/LASLA event.”
Singh said this celebration is a tradition at LAW and a tradition he tries to always attend.
‘The enthusiasm of seeing many new faces was what I looked forward to the most, and it was successful,’ Singh said. ‘Since this is a tradition for law students, hopefully, it will continue to be successful.’
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