In the past month, seventh grade students have danced on the field, in the gym, on the stage, and even in their own homes to put together this year’s Latin Dance MX. They have been wearing the outfits Parker students have passed down from Latin Dance MX to Latin Dance MX each year, but with an addition: a mask. 

On May 7, the Latin Dance Morning Ex was sent out to the school. Seventh grade students both learning remotely and at school as well as Seventh Grade Spanish teacher Edinson López Flores and assistant teacher Jasmine Hart put together the MX. 

The MX tradition began 14 years ago. Last year, however, students were not able to do the Latin Dance MX due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is López Flores’ first year doing the Latin Dance MX. “I’m excited that this tradition is not getting forgotten and I’m excited to see my students and see how they react to their presentations since they worked really hard,” López Flores said.

Students began working on the MX in March and finished the week before April break. During the first and second week, students learned the basic steps and added different rhythms and orders to the steps. Students worked on choreography and other changes during the third week. The final week, students worked on clothing for the video. The drama department also provided costumes. 

López Flores created videos teaching the basic steps using videos from students. These videos were available for students to rewatch. 

There were two quarantines for the seventh grade while working on the MX. One was while they were learning the steps, and one was right after they finished. “The funny thing is that on Thursday we finished recording and the next day we went into quarantine,” López Flores said.

The classes were still able to work on the project while working remotely during quarantine. “We spent some time in class, and Sr. López would go over certain steps, and then he would also spend other classes not doing the Latin dancing,” seventh grader Spencer Koh said. 

López Flores was originally hesitant to do the MX since some students were at home and others were at school. Students at school practiced on the field, in the library, and in the auditorium with masks on. Those at home were able to learn the dances through the videos created by López Flores and during class. 

In order to practice the dances, the students at home recorded two to three videos of themselves to send to López Flores for feedback on background, setup, and steps. Each student submitted a final video which was edited into the MX. “They learned fast, really fast,” López Flores said. “A lot of my students do dancing so that was really helpful.”

Students created a presentation where they explained the history of each dance in both Spanish and English. They also explained the background of the songs used for each dance and presented a poem. At the end of each section’s presentation, students explained and demonstrated the steps of each dance. 

Section A did the Merengue to the song Visa para un Sue by Juan Luis Guerra. López Flores chose the song because of the lyrics. “It’s talking about how immigrants have this dream to travel to another country for a better life and what is the process that they have to go to in order to get this permit,” López Flores said.

The Cumbia was done by Section B. Their song was Mi Cumbia by Jimmy Fontanez. Students explained that the Cumbia dance started in Africa and was brought to Colombia in the slave trade. They also shared that the Cumbia is a courtship dance and that it is Colombia’s national dance.

Section C did the Salsa to No le Pegue a Mi Negra by Joe Arroyo, which is about the experience of slavery in Colombia. “The song is from the point of view of a husband, begging for his wife, and all of the experience that is happening to these people, and how they express it in the song to the dancing and the music,” López Flores said. “That’s why I also chose this song to reflect on the condition and experience that is life hiding in Latin America, to talk about that, because it’s something we don’t think about, or we don’t mention it. It’s given the chance for students to do the research a little bit with the lyrics and the song.”

The Mambo was done by Section C to Mambo #8 by Perez Prado. López Flores chose this song because it was fast and energetic. Students talked about the different instruments in Mambo #8 and Perez Prado, the musician who popularized the Mambo. They also shared haikus about the Mambo in English and Spanish. 

The Latin Dance MX is traditionally done in partners, though they were not able to this year. Some students wanted to have partners, which surprised López Flores. Ultimately, they were able to work on some choreography in groups. Students who worked in groups recorded one final video with the group, spaced out about three feet, and one on their own. 

Koh, who has no background experience in dance, enjoyed the project. “At first it was pretty hard but after the first week the steps were pretty similar, so we started being able to think through it and repeat parts of it,” Koh said. “I thought it was pretty fun since it’s something I haven’t ever done before.”

Seventh grader Solena Ornelas Pagnucci does ballet, jazz, hip hop, and modern dance outside of school. For Ornelas Pagnucci, learning the dances was fun and she was able to pick up the choreography quickly due to her past dance experience. “Sometimes it was a little confusing just making sure like the steps were right, but most of the time it was pretty easy,” Ornelas Pagnucci said. “I really enjoyed learning the dances, and performing it was really fun.”

Ornelas Pagnucci was excited to do the MX after her older sister did it. “I always thought it was really cool, and I was really excited to be in seventh grade so I could do it,” Ornelas Pagnucci said. “In previous years they did it in front of the whole school, and we weren’t able to do that since we had to record it, but it was still fun learning the dances, learning about what the lyrics to the song meant, where salsa comes from, and that history of it.”

“It’s a fun experience for our students and it’s a really enjoyable way to immerse in the culture,” López Flores said.