Dancing only part of the fun for Alegria members

Alegria, open to all students, is a club that practices traditional Latin dances.

“We try to dabble into other more Mexican traditional dances, or some Native American dance, but the primary dances are the bachatas, merengue, cumbias, salsa. Kinda like the dances you do at family parties,” said club co-adviser Olivia Ortiz, a counselor at West Chicago Community High School. She leads the organization along with Social Worker Jeff Anderson.

Alegria members have long considered themselves to be a family, and work to build relationships with one another through dance-filled meetings and other activities. The club also likes to interact with the community, and has participated in events like WeGo Spooky in the past.

“We are a really big community and belonging and welcoming and the main way that we do that and promote that is through dancing,” said Ortiz.

Alegria meets twice a week for about 1.5 hours, on both Wednesdays and Thursdays, though the Wednesday meetings are for those members who, according to Ortiz, “maybe take the club a little more seriously. Not in a bad way, but just people that want to be a part [of the] performance or learn specific choreography.”

Advanced dancers and beginners are all welcome, as the advisers not only teach the basic steps of each dance, but also provide choreography for more complicated routines. Sometimes the club brings in guest choreographers as well, including Luis Arturo.

At times, club members perform at community events, including Latin Fever, the Eighth Grade Open House, and WeGo Spooky.

“So far, we are working on getting more performances. We do have a performance coming up this March, 2023, at a community event in West Chicago,” said Ortiz.