Spicy salsa dancing a Valentine’s fundraiser in Santa Rosa

The spicy and colorful salsa served up Saturday night in a Flamingo Conference Resort & Spa ballroom required no chips.

This Valentine’s Day salsa was the romantic and irresistible music and dance that migrated north from Cuba, Puerto Rico and South America. It lent a lively beat and visual spectacle to the Gala Night dinner and performance hosted by Sonoma Latin Arts.

The evening kicked off with wine tasting in the Flamingo lobby and moved to a dinner accompanied by Mazacote’s Latin Jazz Quintet. The meal was a symphony of tastes: jicama fajita salad, pork medallions with tomatillo salsa verde, grilled chicken with salsa morita and key lime tart.

Dinner tickets included VIP seating at the evening’s main entertainment attraction, the dance showcase produced by the allied Santa Rosa Salsa Festival. The stage performance there in the same Flamingo ballroom featured a dazzling array of both salsa and folklorico dance.

To conclude the gala - a benefit for the work by Sonoma Latin Arts to promote the joy and appreciation of Latino arts and culture - the music of Louie Romero y Su Grupo Mazacote tempted all to come onto the floor and dance.