Students couldn’t help but move their feet and sway their hips to the Latin beat coming from the Holmes Student Center’s Capitol Room Tuesday night.

Almost 100 people attended the merengue and salsa lessons held during an event hosted by the Association for Latino Movement and Accreditation (ALMA).

Clersida and Luis Garcia, professors of kinesiology and physical education, dance professionally in DeKalb and the surrounding areas, such as Aurora and Rockford. They organize events, are invited to dance at professional conferences and clubs and host Latin dance classes as the Salsa Fever dance group.

“If we get big in town, we’ll dance everywhere,” Luis Garcia said. “We’d love the whole community to join in.”

The Garcias met 27 years ago in Venezuela and earned their master’s degrees at Michigan State, where they formed their dance group. They even perform at Latino weddings.

“Basically to get the party going,” said Luis, smiling.

Katie Donnell, a junior dance major, also performed on Tuesday night. She has danced with Salsa Fever for a month, and her partner, Hugo Montlvo, has been with the group for seven months.

Ben Phillips, a freshman textiles, apparel, and merchandising major, appreciated the rhythm of the Latin music played during the lessons.

“It’s important because that directly influenced Latino music today,” he said, adding that the lessons gave him a better sense of his own rhythm.

Cindy Moreira, a senior communication major and two-year president of Dance Quente (Portuguese for “hot dance”), taught the merengue lessons. She and Dance Quente also teach salsa, bachata and reggae dancing.

“We teach those that don’t know how to dance and we perform in different areas,” she said. “We keep dancing to keep in contact with our culture.”

Jesse Perez, founder and president of ALMA, agreed with the connection between Latino culture and dance.

“This added a different aspect of our culture,” he said.