The Hawthorne High School Spanish Club took a trip to Montclair State University’s Memorial Auditorium to be a part of the Learning on Stage program featuring the Viva Flamenco and Latin Rhythms on Friday, April 11, 2014.

Learning on Stage is a multicultural learning program that teaches students through the art of authentic music and dance. Karina Rivas, Spanish teacher and club advisor at HHS, planned the trip so her students could experience the Spanish culture first-hand through a program that combined education and entertainment. She hopes students walked away with a better understanding of the Spanish vocabulary from the performances and learned the meaning of new words in the process.

The first performance the students attended was Viva Flamenco, which is a show based on poetry and drama. The students also viewed Latin Rhythms, a performance by musicians who exposed students to Latin American and Spanish music, which combines both Latin and African sounds.

According to Rivas, even though the trip was very educational and based on learning the culture through music and dancing, there was still plenty of fun. The highlight of the day was when the students and staff had a chance to get on stage to dance with the performers.

The students and staff thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Montclair State University and walked away with new insight into the Spanish culture and language.