Culture

Salsa schools in Cali dance to survive amid COVID-19

Cali, May 30 (EFE).- More than 100 salsa academies from the city of Cali, southwestern Colombia, on Saturday put together a virtual performance to collect funds and prevent the closure of independent schools, which have taken a severe economic hit from the coronavirus epidemic. Dance performances, live orchestras and talks formed part of a nearly 12-hour long program through which young salsa artists hoped to collect around 500 million pesos ($135,000) in donations. (Camera: JUAN DIEGO LOPEZ)FOOTAGE SHOWS B-ROLL OF DANCE GROUPS IN CALI, COLOMBIA.SOUNDBITES: SPOKESPERSON FOR "MY SALSA LIVES AND MY SCHOOL TOO" BRAYAN GALVIS (IN SPANISH):TRANSLATIONS:(00:00:05-00:00:25) "Well, today we are holding an event called 'Bailatón'. It is an event where 100 city schools come together to collect funds to help us mitigate the problem we have economically. We want to prevent schools from closing and we want to prevent them from continuing to close"(00:00:30-00:00:47) "Well, as a school, we were the first to close and we will be the last to open, that has brought us great financial problems. We owe rent, services and payroll, and that's why many schools have had to close"(00:00:51-00:00:58) "Now we dedicate our time to whatever comes our way, whatever works out. Some are selling fast food, others are working on construction, anything"