Bevo Beats is back just in time to Honor Hispanic Heritage Month! Audio reporter Tamara Rodriguez shares the story of Texas Latin Dance, an organization at UT open to students of all backgrounds looking to give Latin dance a try. Austinites inside and outside of TLD express their love for the great community and cultural engagement within the org.

*TX Latin Dance Thursday lesson*

Cynthia Guo: Hi everybody… We’re going to get started

Tamara Rodriguez: You are listening to a free dance class hosted by UT Austin’s Texas Latin Dance organization at the T-House Suite in the Union. It’s a wonderful opportunity for students of Spanish-speaking descent and even for those who are from different cultures to just come and dance, especially since it’s Hispanic Heritage Month.

Cynthia Guo: please get into your usual lines

Tamara: The one talking is Cynthia Guo, a junior environmental science major, and the president of TLD, if you couldn’t tell by the tone of authority in her voice.

Cynthia Guo: Texas Latin Dance is like a student-run Latin dance org so we teach salsa, bachata, cumbia, merengue Izuku, those are our big five, and then every now and then we’ll have like, a guest teach like other dances.. 

Tamara: Even though she does not come from a Hispanic or Latin background, Cynthia holds a deep appreciation for the culture, is beyond passionate about Latin dancing, and makes sure to accurately represent the culture and history behind these dances that are being taught.

Cynthia: being a non-Hispanic person. Like being in a Hispanic, like sphere, not just being in Texas, but being in the Latin dancing, it has been, so like, warm and welcoming. And there’s just something about this culture that is just like, there’s really a sense of like community behind it. Everybody’s just like, out to have fun and like, spread love… So I really, really appreciate the opportunity to like, not only be a part of it but also like, lead this club that is, has been around for so long.

Tamara: Rachit Garg, a PhD student here at UT whose cultural background is Indian, feels the same way.

Rachit Garg: A lot of our members are not necessarily from the Latin community, but everybody is enjoying it. And even the Austin community itself, like, you go there and you meet, go to like downtown studios, or you go to like, a social dancing places and you realize that it’s very inclusive, like, and a lot of our officer team isn’t Latino, but like, if you like the music, and if you like, the people, which I’m sure you will want to come to many of these things. Yeah, you’ll feel at home.

Tamara: For Rachit, he realized as a PhD student, he got too engrossed in his studies and just wanted a way to express himself.

Rachit: It feels counterintuitive, because like I was spending less time maybe doing it, but I think the like the idea of like you’re doing a different activity and like learning different things. And also like making your body do different things. Because I had to teach my body to how to move like I wasn’t a natural dancer. And just the idea of Like you seeing yourself, do it something that you were struggling, it helps you and others and helps you gain confidence and helps you in other aspects of life.

Tamara: It also offers a space for those within the culture who may struggle with their heritage.  

Erika Rodriguez: Whether you’re, you know how to dance already, like, you know, you’re culturally like learned in those dances like salsa, bachata, cumbia and stuff. Or even if you’re like culture really distant, I feel like no matter where you’re at, and that sort of aspect, like dance can make you feel more connected to yourself.

Tamara: That was Erika Rodriguez, a senior history major and the social media officer for TLD. 

Like me, she also grew up in a Spanish-speaking household, and seeing others who are not from Latin or Hispanic culture learning Latin dancing is something incredible to her.

Erika: I can see sort of that impact of Hispanic and Latin culture like reaching other people and I, that makes me feel proud. And it, yeah, it just makes me feel proud to be who I am. And it makes me feel closer to those roots.

Tamara: I mean, just being in the T-House suite with about 50 other people who are laughing, and having fun learning a new dance was a sight to see. Just hearing their feet synchronizing and stepping on the floor was beautiful to watch and listen to. 

*sneakers stepping and squeaking during practice*

Cynthia: it’s like this amazing, like, way of like bridging cultures and like bringing people together, so I’m even more excited when people that are not Hispanic want to join this because one they’re like, also becoming immersed in like this culture and becoming aware of this culture that they are not themselves a part of, and I think that’s a really special moment because I think it just brings people like more together and have more empathy and understanding and appreciation for the culture. That’s what happened to me.

Tamara: And it’s not just Cynthia, a lot of people who join Texas Latin Dance experience the same thing. 

Cynthia: What is even more amazing is that like, people, alumni from our club go on and they start studios, they become professional instructors, they become professional dancers, so many of our alumni are out in Texas, like doing amazing things related to dance, and I see them on socials all the time, like being absolutely amazing dancers.

Tamara: TLD has alumni across Texas in San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, and more including Alumni Favian Bustos, 37-year-old self-employed entrepreneur and owner of his own dance studio, Austin Inspired Movement, located here in Austin, Texas. He joined the club the same year it was established. 

Favian Bustos: It was just an organization. And it was I became treasurer in the organization. And that helped me understand, like monthly subscriptions and hosting events and the money behind it. And then I started then I became president, then I became advisor. And so I learned a lot from that experience that played a huge role in what I’m doing right now for sure. I would say that organization definitely changed my life.

Tamara: Favian and his twin sister were born and raised in Katey and were the only BIPOC students in their classes growing up, and Favian found a community at TLD.

Favian: It definitely allows for the opportunity to, you know, have a little taste of your culture within, you know, the University of Texas, which is all different cultures and made up of so many different languages and people. So it gives you a form to find a little bit of identity, a little bit of some family.

Tamara: That’s what this organization is all about! I also got to speak with Fanny Gonzalez,the owner of a popular Austin dance studio called Corazon Latino, about the Latin dance scene in Austin, Texas, and about TLD. 

Fanny Gonzalez (voice-over by Maria Probert Hermosillo)

English translation: Well, it’s marvelous, because imagine the university is already interested in offering classes of Latin music such as salsa, bachata, and all Latin dance styles it’s because it’s a culture that today is super important. I think it’s a really good idea to offer and not just that, but an opportunity for different cultures to become one.

Tamara: Fanny, the now 64-year-old Venezuelan, created her dance studio 14 years ago because of how much she loved Latin dancing, and watching people improve their skills.

Fanny (voice-over by Maria)

English translation: It’s a new community and I love it because everyone is united, I mean, everyone respects each other, and everyone knows each other, and everyone has fun and everyone comes consistently and every day they get better and better and they get so much better that the ones who had just started, who didn’t know anything, who didn’t know how to dance, are now professional dancers.

Tamara: For some, the uniqueness of Latin dance is what makes it attractive.

Fanny (Voice over by Maria)

English translation: Latin music, I think, is that Latin music itself has flavor and it’s just a dance but it’s a dance that has style, that has technique and once you learn it, you enjoy it.

*a Texas Latin Dance class* 

Tamara: Erika told me that the social aspect of Latin dancing is like no other.

Erika: The connection and those movements for that particular dance like is just super unique. And you really do feel that connection with the other person that you’re dancing with. It’s like, it’s really cool, because in a way you’re communicating, not by speaking, but just by moving your body. And I’m not really sure if you can get that with any other type of dance.

Tamara: Latin Dance creates an emotional and whimsical energy between partners that seems to be different from other dances like the two-step or the waltz.

Cynthia: There’s like this informality to it, that allows people to just like, transform the dance and like branch off into whole new styles that is rooted in the stands. So that’s one thing that I think is really cool about it. I think social dance in general, is like, is very much about like, the connection and communication between your two partners. And essentially, especially in Latin dance, there’s this emphasis on like, like, what’s the word it’s like, you know, like, fire and energy and like sensuality, and like feeling the connection deeply with your partner.

*People laughing*

Tamara: I might be biased because it’s a part of my culture, but I wholeheartedly agree. When I attended the dance lesson, I saw first-hand the way people communicated with each other with only their bodies, it was very sweet. 

*a Texas Latin Dance class*

Tamara: Victor Bucil instructed the lesson I attended. He’s a friend of Cynthia’s through a local dance company and he’s often a guest instructor for TLD. After the dance lesson, I spoke with him for a little.

Victor Bucil: I started when I was 26 years old, but by then whenever you’re not in college and this type of setting, it gets really expensive, and it adds up each class to be $20 and takes an hour of your time. Dude, this is amazing. This does cardio. It makes you meet new people. This is literally what a life college should be so I think it does an amazing job.

*everyone says they want to learn a combo during class*

Tamara: People were loving the lesson and wanted more. 

Victor: I think TLD is doing a really amazing job here at UT. I really wish it was at other universities. I went to a university in Houston, they have something similar, but it was more ballroom focus. This one’s more Latin-based focused. And it’s really teaching, like a different generation to really embrace that Latin culture.

*Victor says thank you, people clap*

Tamara: This is the next generation of Latin dancers being taught right here on our campus.

Cynthia: this like, club is like very special and its history. And in its connection to like the greater Latin dancing. And just like bringing the like, Hispanic Latin representation to UT.

*the students yell TLD*

Tamara: This episode was a production of The Daily Texan Audio Department. It was reported and produced by me, Tamara Rodriguez. If you liked this episode, make sure you subscribe to The Daily Texan on your streaming platform of choice and follow us on Twitter @texanaudio. The music you heard in this episode was recorded on campus during a dance lesson of Texas Latin Dance. The cover art for this episode is by NAME. Thanks for listening!