It won’t get much hotter than this: Asheville’s Latin dance community is joining up for a massive Cinco de Mayo celebration. Come to watch and/or come to dance—each group will perform, followed by a set of music designed for dancing and mingling.
The lineup ranges from salsa to flamenco, spanning just about every form in between: Tango Gypsies, Salseros 828 student dance team, 828 Afro-Cuban ensemble, Dulcinea’s all-girls team, Zabumba! Brazilian drum and dance group, Maria G and Lisa Z International dance fusion, Alma Flamenca Flamenco dancers and Sin Fronteras traditional folkloric Mexican dance.
The show will be at Scandal’s in the Grove House (entrance on the side), and starts at 8 p.m. Ages 18 and over, $8 members and $10 others. For more info, go to www.salseros828.com.
The Grove House has three different venues inside; so while the Latin dancers steam up Scandal’s, there’s another Cinco de Mayo party upstairs at Eleven on Grove. This one’s a swing dance featuring New Orleans jazz outfit the Loose Marbles. Swing-dance teachers will be there; a beginner’s lesson is at 6 p.m. and an intermediate lesson at 7 p.m. Lessons are $10; lesson and dance together are $15. For more info, go to www.swingasheville.com.
Another series of Latin-themed events happens this weekend, a project with a more sober but very timely theme. Teatro Latino de Asheville will bring an original, multilingual theatre experience to UNCA’s Highsmith University Union. Contamos todos tells true stories of the challenges faced by local immigrants.
“With the current political and economic climate, the everyday tensions that come to surface due to language, background and legal status became even more salient,” writes the director, Lule Rosenbaun, a UNCA instructor. Rosenbaun believes there’s a strong need to present the reality of what’s happening in our community.
Shows are Friday, May 1 and Saturday, May 2, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 3 at 3 p.m. Admission is free, though a $5 donation is suggested. For more info, go to www.telash.org.
And on a completely unrelated note, a follow-up to a recent Spork where we told readers about hope and anchor’s last show: Quiet indie-pop band Boys of Summer plays its last show with Tasha Trasher as a member (Trasher is moving back to her hometown of Portland, Ore.). That’s slated for Monday, May 4, at LaRue’s Backdoor. Don’t despair: Boys of Summer will carry on without Trasher, tho she’ll certainly be missed.
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