TheVitruvianSalsa Festival: ¡AlMaximo!


Photo: StevanKoye byElizabethVanVleck


salsa celebration that brought together livemusic, performance, Salsa lessons, and plenty of space to dance atVitruvian Park in Addison.Completewith free parking and awide variety of food trucks each Saturday night in June and July,Vitruvian Salsa Festivalwas an overwhelming successwith 24,000 people of all ages attending over eightweekends.


L


AlthoughDanceCouncil ofNorth Texas had offered summer events that included the opportunity to learn different dance forms – from Two-step to Swing to Salsa – in the pastwith reasonable atten- dance, no one involved could have predicted the extraordinary turn out and enthusiasmthat filled the park.


Yetwith a quick look at recent cultural data, the shifting demo- graphics ofDallas, and the public’s re-defining of cultural experi- ence,Vitruvian Salsa Festival’s success should have seemed obvious.


According to LaPlacaCohen’s, Culture Track, the largest, on-going national study focused exclusively on the attitudes and behaviors of U.S. cultural consumers, keymotivators to audience participation in cultural events is changing in fundamental, vigorous, and engaging page 16


May-July 2015 www.thedancecouncil.org


ast summer, in collaborationwithVitruvian Park, SalsaDallas, and the Town ofAddison,DanceCouncil ofNorth Texas pro- duced the inauguralVitruvian Salsa Festival, a free summer


ways.Results fromthe 2014 study found, first and foremost, that audiences are defining cultural events as experiences that fulfill their social needs – to bewith and share experienceswith others.


Other topmotivators beyond the primary social aspect included: perceived value, convenience, and stress reduction. Two-thirds of people nowinclude food and drink destination experiences as cul- tural.Audienceswant to be entertained, to enjoy, and to spend time with others. Theywant cultural experiences to be convenient, include consumables, and theywant it tomean something. For more information about Culture Track, visit LaPlacaCohen.com.


While Salsamusic and dancing have long held international appeal, there is no denying the impact ofDallas’ growingHispanic popula- tion on the festival’s inaugural triumph.According to the 2010U.S. Census,Dallas’Hispanic population grewapproximately 42 percent over the preceding decade.Within the next ten years, it is projected that therewill bemore people ofHispanic descent in Texas than non-Hispanicwhites.


Data aside, one only had to have been there to feel the celebratory magic that transpired each Saturday night. “Es lomáximo de la verdad estar en losEstadosUnidos y sentirse como tan cerca de nuestra tierra,” (This is the best…to be in theUnited States and to feel so close to, somuch like, our country),” remarked a 2014 Festival attendee, “¡Me siento tan bienvenido! (I feel sowel-


DANCE!NORTHTEXAS a publicationof the dance council ofnorthtexas vol 18 •no 2


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36