Hispanic Heritage Celebration Was A Gathering Place

Over 50 Bolivian dancers showed up at Rockville’s Hispanic Heritage Celebration on Saturday, September 20, 2010. Throughout the afternoon, groups in different costumes filled the square with many of the men’s outfits matching the women’s dresses, plus a bunch of little kids joined in the fun with their own colorful versions. Four hours of movement was presented by Caporales Universitarios San Simon, Café Caribe, Caminito Amigo, Fraternidad, Diablada Boliviana, Arte Flamenco, and Ballet Ritmos del Peru. After the show was over, the dancers stayed around and had something to eat together. The audience did the same.

A sense of pride could be felt among those in attendance. Even when a family was fluent in English, the parents encouraged conversations in Spanish. The whole square was packed with people in a celebratory mood of sharing who visited the tables set up with information about many programs with explanations in Spanish including City of Rockville, Priority Partners, Kaseman Clinic, Kaiser Permanente, Casa de Maryland, Community Ministries of Rockville, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Montgomery County, Montgomery County Federation of Families, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Montgomery County, and Revista Buena Gente.

Carlos Aparicio, the City’s new Community Services Manager who previously worked in the Linkages To Learning program, came to hand out information and became a tattoo artist. He had a nonstop parade of kids wanting “I Love Rockville” temporary tattoos while they waited for the moon bounce. When he explained they looked like “biker” tats, even I was tempted.

The musical entertainment and dancers all volunteered to perform at this new Hispanic Heritage event in Town Square. The final musical presentation was by Visions of Jazz. They were enjoying themselves so much they played until 7:15 PM even though the official ending time was 7 PM, which was a real testament to the good time being had by all. Here’s a very brief clip of their performance.

Share and enjoy:

Hide Sites