Contra-Tiempo Urban Latin Dance Theatre kicks off annual Latino Cultural Festival in Queens on July 29
Queens Theatre in the Park
Flushing Meadows Corona Park
July 29 – August 8, free (with RSVP) – $35
718-760-0064
www.queenstheatre.org
The fourteenth annual Latino Cultural Festival, celebrating the ever-growing Latino community in Queens, launches tonight at the Claire Shulman Playhouse with L.A.-based Contra-Tiempo Urban Latin Dance Theatre ($30-$35), kicking off eleven days of music, film, dance, and comedy. Tomorrow night, Yomo Toro ($20-$25), the Jimi Hendrix of Salsa, takes over the main stage, followed by Pistolera and its offshoot, the bilingual group Moona Luna, on Saturday (free). The festival also features “Tango y Vida” (August 1, $30-$35), the Alejandro Caceres Dance Companay’s “Dilei” (August 3, free), a screening of Natalia Almada’s Mexican drama AL OTRO LADO (August 4, free), an open mic night hosted by Bonafide Rojas (August 4, free), a tango dance party with Los Chantas Tango Quartet (August 4, free), an evening of Latin American music with Leon Gieco, Claudia Acuña, Aquiles Baez, and Lucia Pulido (August 5, $20-$25), Cuban singer-songwriter Carlos Varela (August 6, $25-$30), Colombian superstar Jorge Velosa (August 7, $25-$30), and Peruvian Grammy winner Susana Baca (August 8, $25-$30). If you buy tickets for multiple shows, you get a twenty percent discount, and most free events require advance RSVP.