Oyeme! White Latinas Have Rhythm, too! – Hispanic MPR

“The other night I celebrated my fortieth birthday with a couple of my closest amiguitas, at a well-known Latin dance club in the Bronx. When we arrived, the place was crowded with well-dressed couples moving in sync to the roaring rhythms of Celia, Machito and el bárbaro del ritmo, Beny Moré.

We found a table next to the bandstand and ordered drinks. Before I had a chance to pull my black, spandex-sequined dress over my hips, Sonya*, one of my “traditional-looking”, almond-eyed-olive-skinned Latina friends, was on the dance floor working-up an enviable sweat. One by one, mis hermanas got to strut their stuff in the arms of elegantly-dressed, cologne-scented Latinos. Three rum and cokes later, I was still keeping clave with my right foot, wondering when it would be my turn to rumbear a todo lo que da. “Castellano que bueno baila usted” was in full blast, so I grabbed Sonya and made a mad dash to the floor, unleashing the pent-up fury that had been building in my Cuban-, Italian-American hips. Instantly, two debonair caballeros stepped in.”*

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