even the trombone player has a 6-pack

I’m not capable of sexy. Not that I’ve ever tried.

I guess I have the Juicy Fruit approach to sex appeal. All the other gum companies use sex to define their image: Dentyne has practice safe breath, and 5 has a sleek design and is all about simulating the senses, and Stride has dancing Matt.  Far from seductive, the pineapple-peach flavor of Juicy Fruit is just cutesy, and it doesn’t try to pretend that it is anything different.

Let me do a little break down my anti-sexy indicators:

1) I carry a backpack around with me everywhere. No, I’m not in college, I just like my backpack.  And don’t casually sport around a lazy, corduroy backpack-purse like somebody who shops at Urban Outfitters.  For whatever reason, I’m always carrying around a bunch of stuff, like a giant turtle shell.

2) The only pajamas I own are oversized t-shirts and gym shorts.

3) The toe that’s next to my big toe is as long as my pinkie finger.

Nuff said.

  Well, over at the Baltimore Symphony, we’re gearing up for this one-night concert with the King of Salsa—Cuban dance group with a live band.  It’s a girl’s night out, shirtless men, even-the-tombone-player-has-a-6-pack kind of show. I thought that I’d be promoting Mozart and Wagner for my internship, and instead I’ve got the Latino version of Thunder Down Under.

Maybe that isn’t entirely true. Kings of Salsa is also a cultural experience. The choreographer, Roclan Gonzalez Chavez, is one of the best young choreographers in Cuba, and in this production he’s combined contemporary dance -like hip hop- with Cuban classics -like salsa and mambo.  With an all-Cuban cast, the dancers were selected from the nation’s top dance companies. And the 9-piece band includes horns, congas, vocals, and tres, a 3-stringed Cuban guitar that primarily functions as a drum.

Okay… no, I’m not comfortable with the fact that the men and women in this show will be dancing half-naked. But Strauss’ opera Salome has Dance of the Seven Veils. And some of the greatest paintings and sculptures portray the human body in ways that are less than modest. So you can't question the significance and value of art simply because of the performers’ costumes, or lack thereof. 

Kings of Salsa