Salsa Night: Bring your dancing shoes! 5:30 p.m. – Salsa class 6:30 p.m. – Performance About Manny Cepeda Orchestra | Since 2018, the Manny Cepeda Orchestra has been featured on Pandora Radio and as Spotify Artists, and they were added to Apple Music and YouTube music in 2020. One of the most popular small groups of the Manny Cepeda Orchestra organization is the MCO Quartet, ranked as the No. 1 Salsa Quartet in San Diego. Since 2010 the group has played a series of public concerts, “Salsa Under the Stars,” which can now be heard at the Headquarters District at Seaport Village every third Friday of the month and Little Italy’s Piazza Della Famiglia on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Manny Cepeda, a Puerto Rican composer, arranger, and leader of the Manny Cepeda Orchestra, has just released a new CD, Roots/Raices and Padre Querido, featuring his original lyrics and musical arrangements. Manny drew on the early childhood teachings of his famous uncle Rafael Cepeda and dedicated this CD in his honor as well as paying tribute to his father, barber/musician Don Leonides Rivera. The core of Manny’s group is Xavier Quintero (San Diego), Andy Fraguela (Panama), and Henry “Kiko” Jimenez (Puerto Rico). Dance Lesson Led by Maria Caligagan| Maria Caligagan’s impressive artistic professional career spans over 45 years. Her early training started at the Boston School of Ballet. At just 18 years old she moved to New York City to follow her dream of becoming a professional dancer. Her first big break was being selected as an original cast member in Jerome Robbin’s Broadway, performing at the Tony Awards, and then being promoted to a principal role. Other performing credits include ABC’s movie Cinderella, starring Brandy and Whitney Houston, as well as numerous TV commercials and industrials. As the Co-owner of Heatwave Productions, Event Entertainment and Salsa Inferno dance company, Maria has produced and directed hundreds of corporate events over the past 25 years. A choreographic highlight would be several productions with the Old Globe Theatre, including The Odyssey, The Taming of the Shrew, and Kingdom. In addition, Maria is a Senior Continuing Lecturer in the Theatre and Dance Department at UCSD with a teaching career of almost 30 years. She mentors dancers in ballet, jazz, musical theatre, tango, and all Latin dance. Maria can be contacted at www.swayandswoon.com.
