A newsletter for alumni, students, parents and friends.

Noche de Salsa

By Jordan Pelot-Whitcomb

Recruitment Coordinator

Now I usually watch from the sidelines in awe as dancers deftly twist and turn to tango. However, the salsa instructor at the USCA’s “Noche de Salsa” coaxed myself and fifty other co-opers into the center of the Rochdale basketball court, and successfully loosened our hips to the rhythm of the beat. By the end of the hour I was yelling “Arriba!” as I spun my partner around and tipped her back at the waist.

UC Berkeley approached the co-ops to host a fun event that would bring new and old students together for the finale of the campus’ Welcome Week. What we churned up for the evening of August 23rd was Noche de Salsa! We held the event in Davis Park, shared by Rochdale and Fenwick. Following our own welcome dinner and orientation, the new co-opers were joined by freshman UC students for free salsa lessons.

The fun and dancing did not end there. As soon as the salsa instructor left the stage, the lively mariachi-rock band, Carne Cruda, kicked it up a notch, and captured the audience with their sassy lyrics and jivin’ horns. Just as they finished up, we herded everyone inside to continue dancing the night away with live DJs. By the time the night was over, my feet were hurting but still yearning for more. Before heading home to collapse into deep sleep, I was overjoyed to hear freshman laughing and chatting their way back to their dorms about how “awesome that co-op fiesta was.”

Jordan is a Senior majoring in Physics. He lives at Kingman Hall.