Mariel Perez has been working for dance studios for 15 years and decided it was finally time to open her own place: Melaza Dance Studio, named after the Spanish word for molasses.
“It comes from the sugar cane,” she explained. “It speaks about our Latin culture. Our heritage – it's rich in flavor.”
Melaza officially opened at 22 Hanover Street on Saturday afternoon, right down the block from Manchester City Hall. Perez invited family and friends to celebrate the grand opening with music, food and dance. A balloon arch decorated the entrance, and Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais stopped in for a ceremonial ribbon cutting with big, gold scissors.
The studio offers classes for kids in Bachata, Salsa, Merengue, hip-hop and ballet. Adults can also learn Bachata and Salsa. Despite difficulties with finding a location that was zoned for a dance studio in Manchester, Perez said the day was a huge accomplishment for her family. She’s from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, and music was a big part of her childhood.
“My grandparents were professional dancers,” Perez remembered. “They used to dance traditional son and then they also danced salsa, bachata and growing up with house parties that they would do in our back patio outdoors in the rain.”
The grand opening felt like a house party. As salsa hits played over the loudspeakers, kids ran around playing games of tag. In one corner, sterno cans warmed trays of traditional Dominican food as couples danced in front of giant mirrors.
One of the people who turned out to celebrate was Eden López of Salem, Massachusetts. He’s also Dominican and met Perez while he was taking salsa classes. As Perez’s longtime dance partner, he said belonging to the Salsa community was a beautiful part of his life.
“The rhythm is sensual, it’s sexy, but most importantly. It's something that you can socialize,” he said. “Once you belong to the salsa life, it's so so rich. It’s so nice to know how to dance.”
Annie Alemar echoed López. She’s also Dominican and drove in to celebrate from Salem, Massachusetts. She grew up dancing street-style salsa in Santo Domingo, but started learning more formal Salsa styles later on in life.
She’s said that dancing is a way for her to relax and hang out with friends. She added that dancing salsa is also a way for her to stay in touch with her Dominican roots.
“We carry the rhythm inside us,” she said in Spanish. “We were born with it in our culture, so we come to a dance hall, and it’s an explosion of all those cultures.”
