From Friday January 26 to Saturday January 27, Irvington MEChA held their annual Ritmo Latino showcase to celebrate Latino culture and its community on campus. Ritmo has been a tradition for over a decade and MEChA once again coordinated a successful show this year.
There were two shows hosted over the span of two days, each starting at 6 PM with a full theater of audience members including parents, students, and members of the Latino community from around the Bay Area. Emcees Tarunya Dharmarajan (11), and MEChA officers Melanie Chavez (11), Carly Jernigan (12), kept the audience engaged through performance introductions and activities such as a push-up contest.
The first act was performed by MEChA’s Sazón Latino to the song “El Toro Mambo”. Audience members enjoyed the aesthetic of colorful skirts and the vivid expressions the dancers brought on stage.
The next couple of acts included performances from all of Señor Ballado and Señora Zendejas’ Spanish classes, James Logan’s Latino dance team (Ballet Folklórico De James Logan), a singing act on the song “Los Laureles”, Irvington’s ICED Dance club, and other small groups of students.
Students from Señor Ballado and Señora Zendejas’s classes spent every Friday over the past two months preparing for their performance. Students could sign up to choreograph their classes’ acts for extra credit, and other students in the class worked with them to learn the dance to execute beautiful performances.
“Being able to picture everyone’s skill set was challenging,” said student choreographer Anjali Vellanki (11). “We tried to have something a little advanced to make the dance look good, but also easy enough for everyone to follow. So, the other choreographers and I made a variety of different moves and worked with the class to pick what worked best for them,” she shared.
The students’ hard work was clearly shown on stage as the curtains closed in front of smiling faces and high energy from the audience.
“Ritmo is always a challenge because the kids who already performed at the show in previous years know what to expect and are excited about it, and remember how much fun they had. But, the kids who have never performed at Ritmo don’t know what to expect,” explained MEChA advisor Señor Ballado.
“The kids were super nervous the day before because they’ve never been on stage in front of a lot of people. After the show, the feedback we receive from the students is that they loved the first night and enjoyed the show even more the second night,” shared Ballado.
Students had two months to get comfortable with each other and practice their performances, allowing for clean and complete acts.
“I’m very proud of our dance and I think our class loved the dance as well which created a great experience,” expressed Vellanki.
Perhaps one of the most fulfilling parts of the show was when students who had never even danced before came up with their own creative and lively performances with a small group of friends.
“We put in 3 to 4 hours of practice and watched videos to choreograph our act so that it could be similar to other Latino performances. Although we initially did it for extra credit, it ended up being something just really fun to do with a group of friends,” said small group choreographer Rishabh Sen (11).
MEChA’s Ritmo coordinators Samantha Lizarraga (11) and Lynnette Chavez (12) started the planning process for the show as early as October, which included coordinating outfits and songs to avoid repeats, choreographing the MEChA leadership dances, completing ASG forms, reserving the theater, and many other logistical processes.
“Closer to the show we had choreographers send videos with their entire class as a check-in and gave them feedback on how to improve so that they could be ready for the show,” explained Lizarraga.
The show had over 25 performances, but MEChA leadership accommodated all of them in a well executed, timely manner.
“We try to get as many people as we can to sign up for performances so that we can have more diverse acts and they can be more involved with Spanish culture at the same time,” said Lizarraga.
The show ended off with a wholesome finale where 100+ students joined MEChA leadership and Señor Ballado on stage to freestyle dance to the song “Danza Kuduro” with Latino country flags in the background and in the audience. Students could be seen embracing each other, receiving bouquets, and taking group pictures with each other on stage as a final goodbye for the day.
“At the end [finale act] everyone just kind of did whatever they wanted on stage and that’s what made it so fun,” explained Sen.
Ritmo has become one of the most popular events on campus and essentially a platform for students to express their passions about dance, culture, and performing on stage.
“The community is the best part about Ritmo. It’s a show for parents, brothers, sisters, friends, everyone. Even students who are not part of Spanish classes want to participate in the show because of the strong community,” shared Señor Ballado.
Students can now look forward to MEChA’s annual Españolandia event coming up in April, celebrating the same community and culture Ritmo showcased.
