Latin American Dance Workshop

On Monday 18th March, the Remove, Inters and Lower Transits were treated to a Latin American song and dance workshop given by Tatiana Thomas and Jon Bennett. The morning began with a discussion about culture in Latin America, and the girls learnt that part of the reason that many of the Latin American countries rank highly in surveys about levels of happiness amongst populations, despite being materially relatively poor, is due to the cultural importance and high levels of participation in music and dance.

Latin American Song and Dance Workshop

On Monday 18th March, the Remove, Inters and Lower Transits were treated to a Latin AmericFollowing the discussion, the girls were treated to a performance of two songs from Latin America by Tatiana and Jon, and then they learnt the choruses so that they could participate. Many of them then had the chance to compliment the singing by adding percussion accompaniments, using traditional instruments from the region. The cajon was particularly popular, as the girls hadn’t had the opportunity to play one before.

After this, the girls were up on their feet, and spent a very happy time learning some basic salsa dance steps, and comparing the whole body involvement required with the techniques that they learnt last term in the Russian dance workshop. Whilst practising, they were accompanied by Jon on the guitar, but by the end of the session, their routine was proficient and polished enough for them to dance along to a much faster recording of a popular Latin American dance track. The session was really interesting and lots of fun, and the Remove, Inters, and Lower Transits would like to thank Tatiana and Jon for taking the time to work with us.