Celebrating Latin Heritage | Then mixes Latin beats and public service

College junior Jeffrey Then has happy feet.

His more careful steps have led him to a Health and Societies major with a concentration in Public Health, but one spontaneous leap his freshman year has landed him a job as president of Onda Latina, the only Latin dance troupe at Penn.

Despite his lack of dance experience, he “pretty much got dragged” into auditions by long-time friend and Latino Coalition treasurer Wendy de la Rosa.

Having only dabbled in merengue and bachata at his Dominican family’s parties, Then admitted that his immersion into salsa-focused Onda was a “challenge.”

“I’ve gotten a lot better now,” he said, laughing.

He immediately brought up 13-year-old Onda’s involvement and success in the salsa community.

Apart from its own two shows a year, Onda Latina has attended the New York International Salsa Congress for the past two summers, Then explained. The group not only earns prestige for attending the biggest salsa event in the world, but also for being the only college group that has ever performed there.

Many of Onda’s alumni, including four who attended last year’s conference, have gone on to join professional teams.

Dance, for each member, is a part of life, Then said, and it also brings their different lives and cultures together under the Latino umbrella.

“I think the thing about dance is that it doesn’t discriminate,” he said, noting that Onda does not have solely Latino members.

“We’re really able to share [the culture] with everybody,” Then said, “as long as they like music, like dance, like to have fun.”

But his heritage has also been a vehicle for social impact even beyond the realm of dance.

This past summer, Bronx-native Then worked at the New York City Department of Health, becoming involved in educating the public about H1N1 and the West Nile virus.

As he went out to senior centers and public schools to give presentations, he found many opportunities to use Spanish to connect with his audience, where speaking the language would help them feel more comfortable and open.

“Education is something I’ve always been very interested in,” Then said, although he added that he is currently more about public policy and politics.

He was able to reach out to the North Philadelphia community through an urban studies course that allowed him to teach at the Mariana Bracetti Academy.

“Most of the kids were Latino and black, and they really related to me and looked up to me,” Then said.

Seeing the culture and resource disparities between his own private high school and the public school of his childhood friends had opened up his eyes and piqued his interest. He added that he might consider doing Teach for America after graduation.

Ultimately, his future plans are still “up in the air,” Then said, but he knows that they will include “probably dancing once in a while.”

As for the Latino community at Penn, “It exists,” according to Then.

And this is enough, he said, because “La Casa [Latina] has done a great job of really fostering that community and making sure that students who are obviously very passionate take that passion in the right direction.”

“It’s in full motion and full gear,” Then said.

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