Saturday, April 27
10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Since 1987, Cincinnati has seen tremendous growth in salsa music from the days of the Havana Martini Club featuring a salsa band every Sunday evening to the twenty-two weeks of Salsa on the Square during the summer months.

But, how did salsa music evolve? How did it get to Cincinnati?

This workshop will time-travel back to Cuba, the origins of salsa music. It will visit and explore the evolution of salsa music through each decade from the 1920s to the 2000s and its arrival in Cincinnati. We’ll listen to music from the 1930s during the rhumba era, the mambo craze of the 1950s, boogaloo of the 1960s in New York City, and finally the salsa explosion of the 1970s.

If you want, come with your dancing shoes!

  • Age: Adults (18+)
  • Session: One Time Workshop, meets on April 27, 2024
  • Instructor: Victor Vélez
  • Cost: Free! Suggested donation of $10 per student.
  • Class Location: CCAC’s new home (3412 Clifton Ave)
  • Registration Deadline: April 24, 2024

Victor Vélez

Victor Vélez, a native of Puerto Rico, grew up in New York City and now lives in Cincinnati, Ohio. His creative talents are expressed through multiple artistic disciplines as a writer, poet, photographer, and musician.  Victor studied Communication Arts at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York and began his writing career as a freelance writer in the early 1980s.

Victor’s published work includes A Quest for Answers: A Personal Journey (2003), Salsa on the Square: A Summer of Photos (2010) celebrating the annual summer salsa series on Cincinnati’s Fountain Square, Donde Esta, Señor? (Where Are You, Lord?) written in Spanish, and most recently, the suspense thriller Triduum of All Hallows (2022).  He is the author of five poetry books.