The Latino Student Alliance (LSA) will host Latin Expressions, an annual showcase of music, dance and other performances related to Latino culture, Friday at 7 p.m. at the Century Center in South Bend.
“We hope that this showcase will make the Latino presence on campus felt,” LSA treasurer and Latin Expressions committee co-director Kaylee Calles said. “We are here, and we have a diverse culture of music, dance and talent, and we want to share it with ND and those of the South Bend community so that they can better understand what it means to be Latino.”
The show will feature a variety of individual performers, community groups and student groups, including Mariachi ND, Ballet Folklórico Azul Y Oro, which performs traditional Mexican dances, and Coro Primavera, Notre Dame’s Spanish-language choir; as well as two bands, Los Vecinos and Mouse Child.
This year’s show is the first to be officially hosted by the LSA, which was created last year when two Latino student groups, La Alianza and MEChA Notre Dame, merged. Calles said this year’s Latin Expressions theme, “Raíces: Return to Our Roots,” reflects these changes.
“We wanted to encompass what LSA meant to us,” Calles said. “At this time, our logo was a tree with all the leaves as flags from different Latin American countries.
“It got me thinking that this is our founding year and that we are setting down roots for what we hope LSA to be — an organization in which all Latinos can come together to share our culture with the rest of the ND community as we branch out and proudly share our individual heritage.”
Fellow Latin Expressions co-director Diana Gutierrez said planning for the showcase began before the spring semester started, auditions were held after spring break and the groups have been rehearsing since.
“I can’t even keep track of how many hours we put into planning this,” she said. “It was a lot like a part-time job since we were trying new ways of running the show. However, this work will pay off not only in a great show but in a legacy we’re trying to create.”
Calles said the show would emphasize Latino culture and recognize the contribution of Latino cultural clubs to the Notre Dame community.
“It is also an opportunity for the Latino community to invite that great ND community to convivir con nosotros [live with us], to share a space and place and celebrate with us our expressions of being not only Latino but part of Notre Dame,” she said.
Tickets to the show, which are available at LaFortune Box Office, are $3 for dues-paying members of LSA, $4 each for groups of 10 or more and $5 for individual tickets. Shuttles will transport students from Library Circle to the Century Center starting at 6 p.m. Friday.
