Colombian Embassy and SGM Organise Salsa Showcase

On December 3, 2011, the Embassy of the Republic of Colombia in Malaysia organised the Malaysian leg of the "Salsa: We are the Colombian Pacific" salsa showcase at the auditorium of Wisma Kebudayaan SGM (WKSGM). This salsa showcase is a tour covering ten countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and aims to highlight the Colombian Cali salsa culture and the country's artistic heritage. This showcase was performed to a packed auditorium.

Salsa is essentially born out of Caribbean rhythms created by Latinos in the Harlem district of New York City between the 1930s and 1950s. It travelled to Colombia by sea and enjoyed new waves of development in several Colombian cities such as Cali, Bogota and Barranquilla. Over the next decades, Cali, the third largest city in Colombia, became known as the "capital of salsa". Salsa became a dominant cultural icon in the Americas and has since spread all over the world.

The main highlights of this showcase are the performances of Cali salsa by two young dancers, Lina Maria Penagos and Johnny Felipe Perdomo from Swing Latino, a world-famous salsa school. Dancers from Swing Latino have won several world dancing championships and are highly-regarded in the world of salsa.

Before the performances, H.E. Mr Rodrigo Querubin Londoño, the Ambasssador of the Republic of Colombia to Malaysia gave a welcoming speech. Mr Héctor Camilo, a researcher with the National University of Colombia also gave the audience a deeper cultural insight on salsa and its influence in Colombian culture. Also in attendance were the ambassadors of Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam and officials of other embassies.

In between the Swing Latino pair's performance, salsa enthusiasts from Malaysia also performed dances. The dancers came from Ritmo Latino, Dance Spirit, Salsa Jay and Havana Estudio.