Team manager, senior Nathan Menéndez and freshman Leslie Guarado Gonzales dance together in the cha cha category. This performance won the team first place.

Team manager, junior Daniela Carreno Pérez and freshman Santiago Arias dance during their salsa performance. Carreño Pérez and Arias won first place in this category.

Principal Nicole Morgan introduces Passion Latino before their group performance. Team members appreciated support from administration.

Passion Latino celebrates together after winning multiple first-place awards in cha-cha, merengue, bachata, salsa, Jack and Jill and best in group. “Bringing all six first-place trophies was not in our books. We were all really shocked, but I feel like we would at least place in each category. Bringing the first was just really shocking for us,” captain, senior Tatianna Cabrera said.

Team manager, senior Nathan Menéndez and sophomore Rita Gutierrez Merino compete in the Bachata solo. This performance got them the first-place title in this category. “I just felt really grateful and I just was really proud of myself and especially my team, including my partners,” Menéndez said.

Freshman Leslie Guarado Gonzales cries tears of joy in the arms of her teammate after winning first place for her cha cha dance. “Genuinely, I had faith. I didn’t know I was going to win an award, but when we did, it was just such a surreal moment, and a lot of tears were shed from everyone for how hard we really did work,” Guarado Gonzales said

Team manager, junior Daniela Carreno Perez, celebrates with a trophy in her hand after winning the Jack and Jill performance. The Jack and Jill portion of the competition is where dancers sign up individually and are paired with a random dance partner from another school to perform to music they have not prepared for until they are the last ones standing. “I was really shocked after I won because I had never done it before. It was a different experience for me, so winning that definitely surprised me,” Carreno Perez said.

Captain, senior Tatiana Cabrera and junior Jennifer Alvarez compete in the merengue solo portion of the competition, which they won first place in. This was Cabrera’s last performance since the team was created. “ I was one of the first original members, so it was a little bit hard. It’s hard for me to try to let go of it moving forward. I definitely do plan to come back as an alumnus to help the team,” Cabrera said.

Sophomore Carlos Villavicencio dances with his mom during the student and parent segment of the competition. “That was my first time walking up on stage. It’s my first time on the team. So it was just an amazing experience, especially to be able to break that fear with my mother. It was something I can’t replicate. It’s a feeling I won’t be able to replicate,” Villavicencio said.

The Passion Latino team performs together in their group dance. The team worked hard for many hours to be ready for the competition. Their hard work resulted in them winning first place for their best in group performance. “We prepared since around winter break. A little before winter break, we started, and we just kept on practicing for long hours every single week,” junior Daniela Carreno Pérez said.

Passion Latino celebrates an incredible achievement of winning multiple first-place awards together as a team. The team had similar success last year as well.