Salsa Sunday

Looking for something different to do Sunday, I dragged my son to the opening concert on the steps of the Albright Knox Art Gallery.   It took a little coercion to pull him from C.O.D. on the XBOX, but the allure of an Elmwood Taco & Sub (ETS) lunch and the promise to leave him to his video games for the rest of the night seemed to do the trick.

We grabbed our backpacks, jumped on our bikes and headed out.  It's a short ride to the gallery lawn and even with the stop at ETS we arrived about 10 minutes before the band started.  The shady areas of the lawn were already crowded but we found a nice spot near the cube sculpture and settled in.  Some people had their lawn chairs and newspapers while other more romantic couples sipped wine lounging on their blankets.  It was sunny and hot but the crowd didn't seem to mind.

The MC kicked it off with a thank you to the sponsoring Buffalo News and the music began.  The latin sounds came from the band La Krema highlighted by an energetic and melodic singer equipped with plaid fedora and sunglasses.  The 4 piece horn section and  fast-as-lightening percussionist made the gallery rock.

A few couples ventured to the "dance floor" to show their latin rhythms.  The band leader started a salsa and called out his dancers.  Two couples in red and white whose hips kept up with their feet to a non-stop beat.  They were fantastic and I worked p a sweat just watching them.  I asked my son if he wanted to try a salsa with me.  I got that look.  Although he was adamant about leaving about an hour, he did spend some time translating the spanish lyrics for me.  I started questioning his language skills when one song seemed to focus on thirst and an uncle.  Ah that tuition is so worth it.

I kept my promise and we left after an hour or so.  Too soon for me.  This was a delightful way to spend a Sunday afternoon and a real gem for the Elmwood Village.  I highly recommend it!

The Salsa Dancers.

Kid is ready to go.