LS has changed my life donation

$500.00

You mean a lot to us!

Latin Street is everyone’s Latin Street, Chicago’s dance scene, welcoming all and offering life-changing experiences through classes and partnerships that inspire discovery of true self.

Your donations bring Latin Street to life with more free public programs, exceptional music and dancing presented each year to our millions of guests. Through these programs, Latin Street provides a platform for numerous artists and cultural partners.

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This is a very emotionally difficult message for me to write, and in February of this year, I never thought I would need to share what follows. The reality is that we currently have a big gap between monthly income and regular operating expenses at Latin Street, and if this continues in September, October, etc. we will probably won’t see 2021 as a studio and will be forced to close. For this reason, I am asking for your emergency support to help keep Latin Street open and able to serve our beloved dance community by contributing on this page by clicking above.

Obviously, Covid 19 has hit everyone very hard. Many businesses are suffering, and many people have lost work. Unfortunately, Latin Street is no exception. Since we are considered a part of the entertainment industry through our teaching and producing events in the social dancing space, we are designated as a non-essential business by the government and face very challenging restrictions on our ability to operate through the pandemic. Since 1998, we have been teaching Salsa, Bachata, and other tropical rhythms, moving to our new location in the South Loop in 2016 to continue this legacy. We began sharing our culture through music and dance before there were any Latin congressos or multiple Latin dance studios in Chicago, and we are very proud of the growth of Latin social dancing that we have helped nourish right up to the present. Together, we have produced hundreds of events, we have taught thousands of people to dance, and we have hopefully changed one another’s lives for the better by bringing our community joy in the process. I can remember countless magical nights at Excalibur, Voodoo Nightclub, Hard Rock Cafe, Adobe Gilas, Cubby Bear, Reverie, and most recently, Vintage and Bracket Room, just to name a few of our recurring promotions. The live concerts produced and special events are too many to list; hopefully, we can do another packed to capacity night at Chicago Summer Dance in the near future.

To responsibly follow CDC guidelines during the pandemic, we restructured our curriculum and our schedule, closing for a few months in the spring as directed by the government and reopening for business as soon as we were able to do so in July. In addition, we produced and released multiple online course offerings for people to keep dancing during the stay at home order period. I am so grateful for all the students who are currently dancing at the studio under the current circumstances, and we are all having a lot of  fun. But since we can only operate at approximately 20% of our usual capacity to properly follow government regulations, we need financial support in addition to our classes and studio socials to stay open and reach 2021. Any funds donated today will help us close our financial gap and continue to operate into the next year. Besides brightening peoples lives through dance, we employ countless of dancers and musicians at the studio and events. Many of them execute their cultural, artistic trade full-time and depend on our studio to provide a platform for their work. Besides a very big thank you right now, we will for sure thank you for your donation in a more tangible manner in 2021 via our events, classes, and promotions.

Specifically how can you help?

  1. If you are understandably staying home and you are waiting to feel safer before you come to dance, please help us financially. Some larger donations include free lessons and privates you may use anytime in 2021. With your help, we could be there in 2021 to dance with you when everything comes back to normal. If the amount you want to donate is not in the list of donations, you may always multiply the donations by getting more tickets for each donation. Example: 2 LS supporter donations for $50 each. To help us and donate, click above
  2. If you are currently taking lessons, please sign up for our next session as soon as the new schedule is available. Also, please encourage your friends to give Latin dancing a try and join you for the fun! 
  3. If you are booking private lessons, please call us to book your next set of privates asap.
  4. If you are attending our weekend Maskerade socials, please keep coming and bring one more friend. We will be adding new and exciting themes soon.
  5. If you want to dance at home. Try our virtual classes. They are all listed on the front page of our website.

The support of our students is the main reason Latin Street has been able to do all that we do for the past twenty-two years and counting. That is why I am sending this message to you first, before I share it with anyone else. I hope to see you dancing soon, and from the bottom of my heart, I thank you very much for your support during all these years.

Un abrazo fuerte, Andres.

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