Students Flock to Noche de Baile

People wrapped in dark winter clothes bustled past the HUB on Saturday, yet another brisk night in Carlisle. But through the brightly lit Social Hall windows, students thronged together in tuxes and vibrantly colored dresses for Noche de Baile—a “Night of Dance.”

The event celebrated Latinx culture through music and dance and was sponsored by Dickinson’s Latin American and Caribbean Club. Veronica Loria ’21, an executive board member of the club, said the purpose of the event  “is just to have Latin American music and just sort of have a good time.” 

“I feel like we don’t get that enough,” Loria said. 

Outside of the Social Hall, people laughed together and enjoyed rice and plantain dishes offered for the event. 

Loria said she was happy with the turnout, but expected more people as the night went on. “I think once it gets to 11:30 p.m., there’ll be more people,” she said an hour earlier. 

Surely enough, by 11:30 p.m., students filled the entirety of the East Social Hall. Blazers and shoes cast aside by dancers lined the walls, and attendees took a breather from dancing to try the photobooth and relax.

A dance teaching session was also held by the club on Nov. 7 in preparation for Noche de Baile. “I actually like dancing now,” after the workshop, said Kara Smith ’21. “So I wanted to dance” at Noche de Baile, she said. 

Students who learned some basic dance steps at the workshop put their skills into action to the sounds of pop, hip-hop and dance hits from Latinx artists like Cardi B and Daddy Yankee. 

Noche de Baile has been a yearly tradition for the club, but Loria said this marked the first year the dance had been organized by an entirely new executive board. Laura Celedon ’19 said the event has grown in popularity each year since she was a first-year. 

“I don’t know when they started Noche de Baile,” Celedon said. “But I think that there’s more of a movement this year, because two years ago nobody really came.” 

Celedon, like others, came to the event to reconnect with friends and dance. 

“I decided to come tonight because it’s my last Noche de Baile as a senior and it brings back good memories when I’m with other Latinas and other friends on campus, and also, I just really like to dance,” she said. “There are more Latinos this year on campus and there’s more of a good vibe going on, so I think this is going to be [remembered as] the best one ever.”

Noche de Baile was held from 10 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 10 to 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 11.