Puerto Rico

Population: 3.19 million

Land area: 3,515 sq mi

Capital: San Juan

Languages: Spanish, English

 

 

Salsa Dancing

Sara Templeton has been dancing her whole life and has put together this video to share what keeps her up on her feet--salsa dancing! Sarah shares with us:

"My earliest memories of happiness were the sounds and smells of my Puerto Rican heritage – arroz con pollo cooking in the kitchen, clave rhythms being drummed out in the living room, etc.   My annual tradition for celebrating Bay Area Dance Week (BADW) is dancing ‘una salsita’ (a little salsa) on the streets of San Francisco. I’ve done this for many years now, but 2020 was different. When COVID-19 caused the first widespread lockdown in the Bay Area, dance artists were hit especially hard. There was a lot of uncertainty, a lot of feeling lost, a lot of pain. The formal BADW celebrations were all cancelled. As a choreographer, I had to make a choice – did I try to keep my own BADW plans alive, or did I shutter down, close off, and hide until things got better? It was my Puerto Rican soul that gave me my answer. Simply put, celebration is a central part of the Latino culture – a central part of MY culture. Even when things are difficult, we continue to dance, we continue to sing, and we celebrate what we can, any way that we can. And I felt strongly that in this moment especially, my community needed that. Which is why, in the middle of BADW week and the middle of a pandemic, I got up with the sun and ventured out very early so that I could safely share this moment of joy with anyone who needs it. And although I knew that no one would be able to see the huge smile on my face, I hoped that deep down they would feel it."