After lunch, Titanes Salseros boards a bus to Strathmore. They set up in a dressing room, passing the hours until the competition by stretching, running through their routines and playing UNO.
Students from competing high schools arrive, keeping to themselves except for Watkins Mill’s team, Las Olas, which drops by to wish Titanes good luck. “I’m afraid of Watkins Mill,” Manuel confides. “They always have something to give to the audience.”
An hour before the lights dim, every seat in the auditorium, including the balconies, fills up. And finally the competition begins with individual couples’ dances: first cha-cha, then merengue, bachata and salsa. For each category, couples first crowd the stage and perform their routines simultaneously to the same music, selected by the After School Dance Fund. Then, each couple dances alone in a 20-second spotlight before the judges, who assign them a numerical score.
The cha-cha contestants dance first, and William and Abrianna’s moves are fluid, their turns crisp and their steps synchronized. A difficult dance to make exciting due to its leisurely tempo, the cha-cha begs for hamming it up, which William and Abrianna do in their spotlight.
Next, the merengue performers take the stage. Hlina and Levi Dias, a 16-year-old Brazilian, compete for Einstein. Offstage, both teens are introverts; onstage, they unleash all the extroversion the merengue requires. They execute their steps joyfully, oozing confidence through bright smiles.
The bachateros follow, with Hlina and Manuel demonstrating all the passion of reuniting lovers. Hlina nails the flip while Manuel seduces the audience with his moves.
Finally, the salsa dancers take the stage. Manuel and Sonia’s routine is stylish and complex, full of double- and triple-turns, shoulder shimmies and other “shines,” or clever footwork. The chemistry they’ve been working hard to establish comes through.
The final dance before intermission is the parent/student category, in which contestants test their dancing skills with brave and willing adults. On a stage full of intergenerational couples, William and Abrianna’s mother, Glenda Bonilla, 39, dance their way through a rapid succession of songs.
After intermission, Einstein is third up among the nine schools competing in everyone’s favorite category, “Best in Show,” the group dance division. Titanes’ performance far surpasses the energy of rehearsals. “Yo No Pido” is bouncy and audacious; “La Economía,” brassy and precise; “Menea Tu Chapa,” as irreverent as dance coach Bernstein demanded. The audience goes wild during the boys’ salsa solo, full of flashy footwork and hand gestures, precise head snaps and bravado.
Before they learn how they did with the judges, though, there are the alumni and Jack and Jill divisions. For Jack and Jill, couples dance while judges watch from the back of the stage, tapping couples on the shoulder to eliminate them. William, Abrianna and their respective partners are the last two couples eliminated before Manuel and Seneca Valley High School senior Allison Murillo are declared the winners.
Then Ricardo Loaiza, executive director of the After School Dance Fund, announces Einstein as the winner in the cha-cha, merengue and salsa categories. It’s hard to imagine the night getting any better—but it does. Titanes Salseros wins the most anticipated prize of the evening: first place in Best in Show.
The team erupts, everyone reaching to touch the giant trophy Manuel holds aloft. The alumni, too, beat out their competition.
After posing for photos, the dancers make their way back to the dressing room to clean up. “It hasn’t hit me yet,” says Levi, who can’t stop smiling.
“It’s what happens when you practice,” Manuel says matter-of-factly. “I feel happy because that’s what we came for.”
As they make their way to the bus, the teenagers wonder aloud where at Einstein they’ll put all their trophies.
Archana Pyati is a writer living in Silver Spring. To comment on this story, email comments@moco360.media.
