Adams Morgan community dances through diversity

Gabriela Garzon, who recently moved to the D.C. area from Venezuela, dances everyday. She said she dances while she moves through her house, cleans her home and brushes her teeth.  

“It’s part of your daily life,” she said as she described the relationship between dancing and Latin American culture.  

Garzon found Sept. 12 no different than any other day. She performed as part of the DC Casineros' Cuban salsa dance troupe at the 32nd annual Adams Morgan Day Festival on the dance plaza in front of Marie H. Reed Community Learning Center. 

Garzon represented one of the community's many cultures. In addition to salsa, some of the dances performed on the plaza included Ghana tribal dance, oriental belly dance and Bolivian folkloric dance.

People from all over the world live in Adams Morgan, said Luis Corrales, a resident. The African American and Latino communities provide different components to the neighborhood’s culture, he said.  
“I think that it’s nice to see people trying to learn a little bit of the culture,” he said. Corrales said he enjoyed seeing people dance, whether it was salsa or African dancing.  

The dancing on the plaza reflected the multicultural neighborhood, said Ronna Eddington, an Adams Morgan resident. “I think it’s a good example of all different cultures,” she said. 

The diversity of the neighborhood is evident on the corner of 18th Street and Kalorama Road Northwest. Three adjacent businesses fly different flags above their doors:  Ethiopian, Turkish and American. In addition, numerous flags are exhibited along the front entrance of the Learning Center, such as the American, Brazilian, Guatemalan, Pakistani and South Vietnamese flags.

Many businesses have the owners’ country represented in the business names:  Awash Ethiopian Restaurant, Addisu Gebeya Exotic Ethiopian Mart, Muzette Korean Restaurant, Tibet Shop and Las Canteras Peruvian Restaurant and Bar.

The Learning Center’s marquee displays messages such as “9/17 NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS!” on one side and “9/17 NO HAY CLASES” on the other side.

The Adams Morgan Day Festival celebrates the vitality that arises from the melting pot of cultures and their interaction together, according to the festival website.

The dance plaza hosted interactive dance workshops that encouraged audience participation. The members of DC Casineros invited the audience to the plaza. Garzon and the dance troupe taught participants how to salsa dance.

The ruffles on Garzon’s short denim skirt sashayed with her body. Her dark ponytail swayed back and forth as she shuffled her strappy, gold heels across the wooden dance floor on top of the Learning Center’s outdoor basketball court.

Her purple tank top, floral hair clip and gold, dangling earrings completed her outfit. She pursed her red lips as she taught audience participants the steps of the dance on the white-tented dance plaza. The dance troupe performed the Rueda de Casino dance, which is a representation of the fusion of African and European cultures in Cuba. 

Latin Americans were introduced to the Brazilian drums and the salsa drums when African slaves were brought to the region, Garzon said.  

Garzon began performing with the dance troupe two months ago, shortly after she moved to the D.C., she said.  

Salsa is how Latin Americans communicate everything, Garzon said. “It’s a courtship. It’s having fun. It’s being sexy,” she said.  

“Everything that has that beat, that nah-na-nah-na-nah-na is very common to Latin Americans," she said. Garzon can relate to almost any song with that beat, she said.

Adams Morgan has a strong Latin American community, Garzon said. However, she said she thinks that the salsa dancing can unite all of the community’s cultures.

“Doing salsa, I believe, can bring everybody together, because it’s something that we can all relate to,” Garzon said.