Salsa at Warren Wilson

In the mountains surrounding Warren Wilson, the sounds of bluegrass and banjos are the most common. As a new student this was very frustrating to me, as I’m an avid fan of all music apart from country and bluegrass. For a few weeks I indulged in contra dancing which is a very entertaining, very southern dance. However, even with me contra dancing every Thursday, I longed for a dance with a little more flavor.

A month or so into my first semester I was ecstatic to see a poster about salsa lessons starting at Warren Wilson. In my home in Orlando, Fla., I was a keen student of salsa and other Latin dances. Ever since I first saw that posted, Monday nights have been dedicated to salsa. Two Warren Wilson graduates run the salsa lessons and everyone has a great time.

Recently the salsa enthusiasts like myself were invited to perform at the Multicultural Dinner, the international students were hosting. For a week our little salsa community put together a routine complete with spins, dips and turns. Every day we worked on our routine to perfect our moves. We were all extremely happy when our last day of practice came. We were ready to show the entire Warren Wilson community our love of salsa. Unfortunately, our salsa performance at the multicultural dinner was canceled at the last minute because of a change of location, but our love of salsa has not diminished.

Warren Wilson is a unique community with many unique clubs such as step team, fire twirlers, belly dancing and more. Salsa is a nice addition to our unique community and our diverse tastes. Don’t be fooled by the bluegrass and country music; I promise you there is diverse and exciting culture here at Warren Wilson full of all different kinds of music and dance.

Grace Hatton ’14