The Edmonton Journal
Friday, July 10, 1998

Clubbing Latino style; Salsa, Merengue, Cumbia; LA HABANA


By Jen Ross
As in the rest of Latin America, it's not unusual to find 40, 50, even 60-year-olds here, out dancing until the sun peeks up over the mountains.
"People stay out until seven in the morning there.... There you have like 1,500 people in the same space that we fit 400 people. Here, this is like a rehearsal." -- Willie Mena, 39.
Salvarredy says he doesn't consider La Habana one of "their bars;" it's more like a hybrid of both worlds.
"When I see a couple in their 50s or 60s dancing away and having a great time without anyone looking at them funny or thinking twice about it, I know we're doing something right," says owner Mauricio Munoz.
"It's nice that they've got people of all ages here and stuff, but when it's your parents, you know ... they can spy on you." -- Geovanni Zarte, 20.

It's 4 a.m. at EntreNegros and a sea of 800 smiling, sweaty people are still wriggling energetically to booming cumbias and bass-heavy Top 40 Latin tunes.

The air is a humid slew of smoke, sweat and cologne at the popular nightclub on Avenida Suecia, a busy bar strip in a commercial area of Santiago, Chile.

Sardined on the dancefloor, people of all ages drink back monster margaritas and men beg women Saran-wrapped in short dresses for a dance. Most concede.

As in the rest of Latin America, it's not unusual to find 40, 50, even 60-year-olds here, out dancing until the sun peeks up over the mountains.

Ten thousand kilometres away, the dancing may not go on as long, but the multi-generational, party-going Latino tradition is alive and well in Edmonton.

Latin roots meet Canadian soil at La Habana, one of the city's only Latin American nightclubs.

Men come decked out in flashy sports jackets or dress shirts -- women clad in tiny tops or spaghetti-strap dresses and heels comfortable enough for a long night of floor-grinding.

There is just as much begging for a dance and a little less conceding.

La Habana dance instructor Willie Mena, 39, has been to various bars in his native Chile and says while he loves Edmonton, the music and the atmosphere here just don't compare.

"It's another world," he says, swigging a drink half the size of what he'd be gulping back home. "People stay out until seven in the morning there.... There you have like 1,500 people in the same space that we fit 400 people. Here, this is like a rehearsal."

With an average crowd of 350 on a Saturday, La Habana isn't nearly as packed as the genuine article down south. And its speakers stop pounding just after 2 a.m.

Mena says Chilean clubs outshine La Habana in many respects, but their prices -- which run close to $15 Canadian for cover charge -- are way too steep.

Cover is similarly steep in Argentina.

But Miguel Salvarredy says the better bands and DJs in his southern home make up for the cost.

It's Salvarredy's first time at La Habana. He says there's more respect, less violence and less of "that macho attitude" you see in Argentinian bars.

The 35-year-old Argentinian firefighter has been in Alberta since May, battling forest blazes. In his brief time here, he's already managed to check out almost a dozen bars.

"The people here in Canada are all really nice," he says, "but I do feel like I'm a little too old to be at 'their' bars sometimes."

Salvarredy says he doesn't consider La Habana one of "their bars;" it's more like a hybrid of both worlds.

While most Canadian bars cater almost exclusively to people in their late teens and early 20s, at La Habana you can see 18 -to-65-year-olds twisting their bodies and tapping their heels to salsa, merengue and cumbia rhythms.

Sometimes children and parents or grandparents will even dance together.

"When I see a couple in their 50s or 60s dancing away and having a great time without anyone looking at them funny or thinking twice about it, I know we're doing something right," says owner Mauricio Munoz.

Munoz, himself 37, came to Canada from Chile when he was 14 years old.

"For many people," he says, "coming here is the closest thing they can get to being back home."

Though he's tens of thousands of kilometres away from his Chilean home, 35-year-old Gustavo Gonzalez says he actually feels more at home at La Habana than at the clubs down south.

Since coming to Edmonton 10 years ago, he went to some bars when on a trip back to his South American homeland; but he says after being away for so long, he felt almost like a stranger there.

When he first came to Canada, Gonzalez remembers missing the nightlife. He remembers working so much he didn't have time for socializing and when he did, he didn't know of any Latin bars so he would mostly get together with friends at home.

Today, not a Saturday night goes by without him busting his moves at La Habana.

The popular hotspot has been open since March 1995 and is the only Latin club in the city to have survived as long.

There are no exact figures for the number of Latin Americans in Edmonton; but 7,145 Edmontonians indicated Spanish as their mother tongue in the 1996 Census.

During its first year, owner Munoz says the family-run nightclub's clientele was almost entirely Latin American. But since then, Edmontonians of all nationalities have caught on to the conga line. Munoz says the breakdown today is probably more like 60-per-cent Latino and 40-per-cent Canadian of all ethnic backgrounds.

About half the crowd at La Habana is under 30 years old, the other half over 30, but there aren't too many older than 45.

Tony King, 40, is here for the first time. He says he usually doesn't go to regular dance clubs because they cater to a younger crowd and he feels out of place.

But the Texan native has been to over 25 Latin clubs in his lifetime and says you can't beat tropical rhythms if you want to dance.

He says it's also hard to find bars with as friendly an atmosphere. Most are regulars at La Habana. Doormen rigged with headphones greet patrons with a smile and waitresses know most people by name.

"It's just like another Cheers, just Latin-style," says Jessica Torres, 21.

The Chilean native, who immigrated to Canada when she was three, comes to La Habana often to see familiar faces. But the faces are a little older than she'd prefer.

"It's kind of weird because you get some pretty old men coming on to you here," she says. "You don't usually see old people at other bars. I don't mind it that much, but it is kind of strange."

Like Torres, many of the younger Latino patrons find it hard to bridge the gap between what's accepted back home and the social norms they've become used to in Canada.

However, not all of the younger crowd finds it odd.

Dana Echino, 18, came with a 36-year-old co-worker.

"This place has such a friendly, family feeling," she says. "I would love for my parents to come here. I could dance with them."

Echino, who is not Latin American, met her 20-year-old Latino boyfriend Geovanni Zarte at La Habana in April.

Zarte was six years old when he came to Canada from El Salvador. He says coming to La Habana helps him cling to his culture and makes him feel like he's back home again.

But he doesn't exactly share his girlfriend's enthusiasm about being able to dance with parents. That's because his parents actually do come here.

"It's nice that they've got people of all ages here and stuff, but when it's your parents, you know ..." he says with an awkward smile, "they can spy on you."

* LA HABANA (Edmonton, Canada)

COVER: Free between 4 -10/$5 after 10

HOURS: 8 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.

CAPACITY: 390

CROWD: 300

LOCATION: A sleepy downtown street (10238 104th St.)

MUSIC (DJ): One regular, Jose Jose, between sets; 75% salsa/merengue, 5% Latin top 40, 20% English R&B, top 40

CROWD AGE: 50% over 30, 50% under

MUSIC (LIVE): Bimonthly band rotation, one band, plays 4 half-hour sets

CROWD NATIONALITIES: 60% Latino, 40% non-Latino

CLUB ATTIRE: semi-formal

BEER PRICES: (dom) $3.75, (imp) $4.25 (large imp) $7

DRINK PRICES: shooters $3.25, cocktails $4.00

* ENTRE NEGROS (Santiago, Chile)

COVER: Women $15, men $22

HOURS: 10:00 p.m. - 5:00 a.m.

CAPACITY: 300

CROWD: 800

LOCATION: Happenin' bar strip, commercial area (0188 Avenida Suecia)

MUSIC (DJ): Three regulars, rotate 1:30-5:00 a.m.; 75% Latin top 40, 5% salsa/merengue, 20% English R&B, Top 40, dance, 70s

CROWD AGE:40% over 30, 60% under

MUSIC (LIVE): monthly rotation & regular Blues Bros. 2-3 bands (from 10:30-1:30 a.m.)

CROWD NATIONALITIES: 75 % Latino, 25% tourist

CLUB ATTIRE: more casual

BEER PRICES: (dom) $5.50, (large imp) $ 9

DRINK PRICES; shooters: $10-$15, cocktails $9-$11