Latino Rhythm showcases music, dance (Photo by Austin Kilgore, The Daily Campus)
College Hispanic American Students hosted its sixth annual “Latino Rhythm” talent show on Wednesday night. The show, held in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Theater, showcased three student acts and three professional acts.
“Latino Rhythm” was emceed by Mary Gamarra, an anchor from the popular Spanish television station Telemundo.
Gamarra hosted in both Spanish in English and said that “it is always such a pleasure to be – at SMU.”
The talent show opened with first-year vocal performance major David Ayon singing a heartfelt “Alejate,” by Albert Hammond and Marti Sharron.
Ayon’s accompanist became sick right before the show, so he gave an unplanned a cappella performance to the appreciative audience.
Next, Andrea Laretta, a senior dance major, danced to “Habanera,” a Spanish guitar piece by Eduardo Sainz de a Maza. Wearing an aquamarine peasant skirt, Laretta leaped, rolled and spun across the stage to the quick beat.
The last student act was sophomore vocal performance major Joel Canales. Canales sung a moving and soulful rendition of Sin Bandera’s “Entra en Mi Vida.” At the end of the song, Canales fell to his knees to serenade the front row.
The first professional act of the night was a well-known, Dallas-based Salvadorian salsa company, Salsa Guanaca.
Two men and two women performed a choreographed salsa dance to a mix of “Phantom of the Opera” and salsa music.
The men wore black capes and covered their faces with a white half-mask, while the women wore white dresses.
For the second part of Salsa Guanaca’s show, a single couple spun, kicked and stepped their way across the stage in a traditional Salvadorian salsa dance.
Following the salsa dancers was Cheskob, a reggaeton artist from Puerto Rico. Cheskob was accompanied by two male backup singers and two girls, dressed in gold halter-tops and black hot pants, who gyrated and vibrated in time with the music.
During his three-song set, Cheskob pulled two students onto the stage, including Canales, and had them dance with his female companions. Gamarra joined them in the spotlight, and students danced in the aisles to the heavy bass and lyrical reggaeton vocals.
Following a short intermission, Remoto, a “rock en Español” band, performed.
Remoto won this year’s Coors Light Battle of the Bands and is the No. 1 “rock en Español” band in the Dallas area.
The band played a set of six songs, each one showing off Santana-esque guitar riffs, pounding bass and energetic drums.
The lead singer’s smooth voice rose over the instrumentals through slow ballads and faster rock songs.
Afterwards, performers and students went to the Tijuana Bar and Grill for the official “Latino Rhythm” after-party.
