The lunchtime classroom of Mr. Olivas looked more like “America’s Got Talent” today as dancers practiced their “Danza Kuduro” routine one last time and a guitarist quietly strummed a few chords in a corner. A variety of other performers, all rehearsing in the hopes of landing a gig at La Noche Cultural, paced up and down Main hallway nervously, waiting for their audition time slot.

The Spanish National Honor Society held auditions for La Noche Cultural today during long lunch. An annual event, La Noche Cultural invites students to attend a celebration of Hispanic culture and cuisine.

“It’s a way to bring Hispanic culture closer to home and to experience it without having to travel abroad, while also having your friends with you,” Spanish National Honor Society member Millie Lin (11) said. “It’s a community event. It’s a way to bring Spanish outside of the classroom and it’s more [culturally] immersive than teaching and learning,”

A series of cultural presentations to students taking Spanish has now become an entertaining evening filled with authentic cuisine cooked by upper school Spanish teacher Diana Moss and other volunteers and performances by students.

“Specifically, we [thought] we’d do some cultural presentations in Spanish, done by students and some faculty. We’d also eat paella prepared by Señora Moss and her helpers,” Modern and Classical Languages Department Chair Abel Olivas said. “We’ve also always had a little bit of a dance, so we decided to add an actual salsa dance competition.”

This year, La Noche Cultural will be held from 6 to 9:30 p.m. next Friday at the Upper School gymnasium.