Sensación, the Latin dance team at St. John’s University, hosted its inaugural Christmas Social Night on Dec. 6 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. in Marillac Terrace. The holiday gathering was exclusive to St. John’s students, requiring a Storm Card for entry.
Students enjoyed an evening of food, music, performances and social dancing, coming together to celebrate the holiday season.
The event was organized in collaboration with other campus organizations, including the Latin American Student Organization (LASO), Red House, the Resident Student Association (RSA) and the Caribbean Student Association (CSA).
Vendors included senior graphic design major Sierra Casey, who sold her artwork, and Chayla’s Cakes, which offered a variety of baked goods.
The Association of Latino Professionals For America (ALPFA) provided Coquito, a traditional Puerto Rican holiday drink, available on a first-come, first-served basis. Food for all attendees included rotisserie chicken, moro, white rice and fried plantains.
In addition to being a vendor at the event, Casey serves as the president of L.I.V.E Dance Crew, which performed alongside Sensación and Step Ya Game Up. Casey shared her thoughts on the event.
“I haven’t seen Sensa [Sensación] do something like this before,” Casey said. “I have always had them at our events, but I have never performed at one of their events. I think it was a really great idea, and I always love dancing with them.”
“I am just grateful to be invited, excited to show off my talents and passions,” she added.
Sebastian Jeudy, a junior legal studies major and member of Sensación, noted that attendees remained active on the dance floor throughout the evening, adding to the event’s success.
“This is Sensación’s first event in a very long time,” Jeudy said. “I am really happy that we have had a big turnout, and have people dancing. It just brings us all together to enjoy and celebrate a really cool culture, that is, the Latino culture.”
In addition to the festivities, Sensación and Red House, the University’s on-campus fashion group, partnered on a holiday semi-formal dress code for the event. They also shared a lookbook with outfit inspiration through their Instagram accounts ahead of the night.
Madison Coombs, a senior public relations major and president of Red House, described the collaboration with Sensación before the celebration.
“They contacted us to help them with the PR [public relations] portion,” Coombs said. “We created a lookbook and did promotional things to show what outfits you should wear for Social Night. We kind of took their theme and made our version of what we think students would wear to this.”
Jaden Gaboton, a senior public relations major and Red House co-events chair, shared how the collaboration helped boost participation, noting “ It definitely brings in a lot more people.”
Sophomore business major Isaiah Johnson attended the Social Night and enjoyed the event. Johnson noted that he hadn’t heard about the event until shortly before it began and suggested that more promotion could help attract a larger audience in the future.
“I feel like more people should know about this,” Johnson said. “I didn’t know about it until right before I came, and I just think they [Sensación] should push it out more.”
RSA member and event emcee Nasir Quinones expressed excitement about the turnout, adding that it unified the community before the holiday season.
“This is great to be a part of,” Quinones said. “You see everyone, all around. It brings everyone together.”
For more information on Sensación, click here.
