By the time DJ Robert Silva started warming Pratt Street up with Frankie Vazquez for the Salsa Social in June, Rachel Irizarry was already sweating from dancing.
“I actually love Pratt Street,” Irizarry said. “I started coming last year and I started learning salsa. From there, I started taking salsa lessons.”
Irizarry is from Manchester, Connecticut. She said she used to be shy about dancing with people, but since learning how to dance, she’s the one inviting strangers out to join her on the street.
“I’ll go up to people and be like, ‘Come on. You want to dance?’” Irizarry said. “It’s just something fun to come do, just be out in the sun, in the summer and meet new people.”
The perfect place for salseros and newbies
For the past seven years, the downtown area has hosted Pratt Street Salsa Socials every summer. Chip McCabe, the director of placemaking and events for the Hartford Business Improvement District, calls it one of the most beloved and anticipated summer events in the city.
“It's one of our most eclectic events in terms of the attendees, in terms of age, in terms of race, in terms of demographic,” McCabe said. “It is just one of those events that everybody can wrap their arms around.”
The free event is open to the public, McCabe said. Though it’s the perfect place for a salsa lover, he said it’s also a fun place for those who’ve never taken a salsa step in their life.
“You don't have to be a professional dancer to come out here,” McCabe said. “We have ringers who come out from Arthur Murray Dance Center. If you want to grab a free salsa lesson, they're more than happy to show you how.”
Lacey Escobales is a studio manager at the dance studio Arthur Murray West Farms. Her students were there to get people to dance while practicing the skills they learn in their classes.
“It's almost like we take the kids out to play, because when [the students] actually get to use their dancing, they have such a good time,” she said. “That's what we're here to do.”
Open to all skills and ages
Hayro Mayorga of Norwalk didn’t step to the salsa beat; he rolled to it.
“I picked up roller skating in 2020.” Mayorga said it was a pandemic hobby he started out of boredom. Now, he jam skates, a style of roller skating that combines dance and freestyle skating.
Mayorga jam skates on Pratt Street to encourage others to have fun with dance, even if they think all they have is two left feet.
“No one can tell you how your body translates music,” Mayorga said. “There's no one there that can dictate how you intake and listen to music and express yourself. So even if you think you're acting a fool, don't think about that. It's all about having fun.”
The welcoming atmosphere encourages even older folks to dust off their dancing shoes, like Robert McGraph of Massachusetts who is 79 years old.
“People are really happy to see me in general,” McGraph said, “because of how well I know how to dance because of my age.”
McGraph has been dancing salsa for over seven years. He said dancing in places like Pratt Street makes him feel more alive. He especially enjoys helping others learn how to dance.
“When I notice somebody's doing something wrong or they need to learn, those are the first ones I want to ask,” McGraph said.
Connection and community as dance partners
Nicole Mata’s dress fanned out in the middle of Pratt Street as her husband of three years, Raul Mata, spun her to the music.
“We love to dance,” Raul Mata said. “We actually met at Arthur Murray [Dance Center]. We started as a friendship and now we've been coming here ever since.”
Raul said the event creates a fun environment to go dancing in because attendees are kind and the dancing instructors are helpful. For Nicole, it’s a good alternative for parents who are looking for a place to dance that isn’t a night club.
“When Arthur Murray came in and started hosting Pratt, it was just an ample opportunity for us to come out to a safe place and actually be able to dance where it's not too late,” Nicole Mata said. “So if you have a family, you can come back home, versus if you wanted to go out to dance, you had to find a babysitter.”
Ricky Belizaire of Middletown held his partner Kevin Bun close as they danced merengue. For Belizaire, the value in these salsa socials lies in what they offer people in Connecticut.
“It's connection. It's a community,” Belizaire said. “I think especially at a time like this, we need more community. We need more of that.”
Bun agreed, clarifying that “a time like this” referred to a sense of unease often shared about the state of the world.
“There's just a lot of tension and fear,” Bun said. “Coming out into the streets like this, where it's open for everybody to just join in dance and be with each other. I think that helps to diffuse that tension and fear that we have at this time.”
According to Bun, he was a nervous wreck about coming to the event, but after spending time there, with the support of his partner, Bun said he realized Pratt Street was a judgement-free zone for all.
As DJ Robert Silva put it in Spanish during his set, “Diversity in the house, here at the Pratt Salsa Social. For the people of Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Peru, the Dominican Republic, [and] the Boricuas who never miss out.”
Learn more
Pratt Street Salsa Socials take place from 5-8 p.m. on Pratt Street in Downtown Hartford. They are free and open to the public.
The schedule for the rest of the summer is:
- Friday, July 25
- Friday, August 22
- Friday, September 19
If it rains, the Salsa Social will take place the following Saturday night.
