By Brian Manning:
For those who think you have to travel south to encounter Hispanic arts and culture, think again. Buffalo is home to a plethora of Hispanic artists from all Latin American countries who are contributing to the rich diversity of this city. One local organization, Friends of Hispanic Arts, Inc., is working hard to make sure that the skills and traditions of these artists are passed down from one generation to the next.
Friends of Hispanic Arts is a not-for-profit multidisciplinary arts organization dedicated to the promotion of the richness and diversity in Latino culture by sponsoring performance and education in a wide variety of art forms including music, dance, visual arts and theater. As one of its goals, it supports the Hispanic Music Youth Project. This project is designed to have music instructors and community artists work with local students via after school workshops at Herman Badillo Bilingual Academy and Enterprise Charter School. The teachers infuse and introduce dance, vocal music, and narration of the program within the workshops.
The purpose of the program from its origin was to nurture the musical talents already implanted in students. So far, the results have been extremely positive. Students experience a pride in their school and community as they perform and are recognized by their peers, families, friends and others outside of their community. It gives students a positive experience, a self-awareness, and another avenue to succeed. It also increases their desire to be in school every day. Due to the recognition students receive, it does not take them long to realize that the same discipline required to develop their talents can also be used to succeed in academic subject areas as well. The performers not only represent a long musical tradition that stems from their community, but in addition they share the beauty of a culture that is within them.
Friends of Hispanic Arts is presenting two performances by the Hispanic Music Youth Project featuring the talents of these students – the first is on Friday, May 2 at 7pm at Herman Badillo Bilingual Academy and the second is on Thursday, May 6 at 7pm at the Montante Cultural Center at Canisius College.
Admission to both performances is free. Having attended the performances in previous years, I can testify that it’s a perfect event to bring the kids. Plus, there will be some tasty samples of food from various regions of Latin America. So come on out to either performance (or both!) and enjoy an evening of celebration of Latino culture.