MaCuba kicks off Hispanic Heritage Month at GCSU

Percussive Latin rhythms made Front Campus un poco caliente on Sept. 14 as  Orchestra MaCuba kicked off  GCSU’s  observation of National Hispanic Heritage Month with a salsa concert.
The event, which was coordinated by the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, provided students with an opportunity to experience the music and dance of Latin America and the Caribbean. MaCuba singer Eddie Lopez enjoys exposing audiences to Latin culture through the band’s music.
“It’s nice to bring culture to universities; it’s always a pleasure to work with these kinds of venues, especially with students,” Lopez said. “That way they get a flavor of what Latin music is all about. A lot of times people have certain ideas of what ‘Latin’ should sound like. Quite frankly, Latin is a genre of a lot of things. We’re really happy that what we bring is kind of a flavor of everything.”
MaCuba, whose members hail from several Latin American, South American and Caribbean countries as well as the United States, consists of  a keyboard, percussion instruments, congas, a trombone and trumpet, a bass guitar and several vocalists. 
Perhaps those most excited about the campus’ dose of culture are the faculty of the Modern Foreign Language Department.
“We’re happy that students are starting to mingle with international students,” Anisio dos Santos, Spanish professor,  said.
Chakib Tlassellal, a graduate student from Morocco, said that events like the concert are good for the campus community.
“ I like salsa music. We need (an event like) this once a week, Tlassellal said Senior nursing and biology major Alicia Rodgers agrees that the university should host more events like the salsa concert.
“I really enjoyed it,” Rodgers said. “I recommend we do it more, like two or three times a semester.”
Spanish professor Lenor Lobon, who offered bonus points to students who were in attendance, said events like the concert make students more receptive to other cultures.
“(The students) kind of lose that fear of the Hispanic and Spanish world,” Lobon said. “It’s something beyond the classroom; it’s not just your professor talking. It’s spoken language and rhythm and dance- things that we cannot bring into the classroom.”
Director of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs Allia Carter coordinated the event.
“I tried to make it a little different than what you can get in a classroom setting,” Carter said. “Many times we try to make it interactive, fun and entertaining, and it’s just a way to expose a person to a different culture.”
National  observation of  Hispanic culture began  in 1968 and was expanded to the month of  Sept.15- Oct. 15 in 1988. The concert is the first in a series of events in observance of the month at GCSU, which also includes the film “Al otro Lado” (To the other side) and a lecture by Dr. Michele Reid of Georgia State University about Cuban hip-hop and the Latin influence on hip-hop culture.
“I think (that) being an academic institution, it’s important (that) we become globally aware of other ethnic groups, not just internationally, but the American ethnic groups that represent diverse populations here,” Carter said. “Although we may not have a large population of Latino students here at GCSU, our events are coordinated for the majority to understand the minority.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 22 2006. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry