In the middle of Studio 404 located at the 72 E. 11th St. building, students and professors gathered around a piñata shaped like a lucha libre mask. Students took turns hitting the piñata with a bat, until the candy inside flew out and fell to the floor, ready to be collected.
This is how the School of Theatre and Dance celebrated the end of Hispanic Heritage Month on Tuesday, Oct. 13. The event focused on lucha libre and featured two special guests: well-known professional wrestler Paloma “La Sriracha Muchacha” Vargas and singer and theater actress Lucy Godínez, both friends of adjunct faculty Christopher Ramírez, one of the event’s organizers.
Ramírez, an adjunct professor at the School of Theatre and Dance, said he has enjoyed lucha libre since he was 10 years old and wanted to teach his students about the activity’s importance — not just as a form of theater, but also as a symbol of Latin culture and the spirit of struggle and resilience.
“I’ve always thought, and I always say, that lucha libre is theater,” Ramírez said. “So, in a way, we’re hosting an event that embodies that wrestling spirit.”
Mateo Suárez, a junior communications major and vice president of Latino Alliance, said it is crucial to hold multiple Hispanic Heritage Month events to promote the month’s significance, noting that celebrations like this one help raise awareness.
“Having just one event for the month limits people,” Suárez said. “When there are five, six or eight events taking place on different days, in different schools and in different buildings, it makes it much easier for people to fit them into their schedules.”
Prior to the event, students enrolled in the “Stage Combat II” class had the opportunity to learn how lucha libre works. To help them prepare, wrestler Vargas showed the students the similarities between professional wrestling and what they were learning in class.
“This is great,” Vargas said. “I have a space to share my love for professional wrestling and Mexican culture.”
To demonstrate how a typical wrestling match unfolds, senior musical theatre majors Shelbee Taylor and Abigail Ehrenberg faced off against each other, while the audience cheered or booed depending on who was playing the hero or the villain.
For Taylor, participating in the wrestling match was an opportunity to experience something her Latino peers identify with, all while having fun.
“Many of my friends identify as Hispanic or Latino,” Taylor said. “So it was nice to do something that is part of their culture, and it’s always really fun to see people so fired up and cheering for you.”
After the match between Taylor and Ehrenberg concluded, Ramírez introduced singer Lucy Godínez, who performed two songs. One of them was Selena’s “Como La Flor,” which prompted event attendees to get out of their seats and sing along with Godínez.
To wrap up the afternoon, attendees took turns hitting the piñata and scrambling to collect as much candy as they could.
One of the attendees, junior acting major Emily Ortiz, was the fifth person to try to break the piñata. She said she had been interested in wrestling since childhood, thanks to her grandfather’s stories, and never imagined Columbia would host an event like this.
“I thought it was really interesting that our school is showing some appreciation for our culture,” Ortiz said. “It really surprised me… wow, it blew my mind.”
Jimmy Noriega, dean of the Schools of Theatre and Dance and Audio and Music, and the person responsible for organizing the event, gave a brief speech reflecting on the history of Hispanic Heritage Month and Columbia College Chicago’s status as an institution serving the Hispanic student community. He left the attendees with a meaningful message.
“We are here, we are powerful, we are many, and we are proud,” he said before an audience that was applauding enthusiastically.
Copy edited by Mia Smith
Originally published in Spanish
Translated by Sofía Oyarzún
