Latin fever

10-piece multi-cultural band kicks off summer concert season

NEW HAVEN » Anticipation and excitement from city officials for the debut of a much-anticipated, new city stage Saturday at the 22nd International Festival of Arts & Ideas couldn’t prevent a gray and muggy day.

Although the Green had elbow room, the city showed up nevertheless, filling approximately half the Green for Latin acts Troker and Fulaso.

Tom Griggs, interim coexecutive director of the festival, said June is a monthlong festival for the city.

“For some of us, this is the 17th day of festival activities tonight,” he said to a crowd of approximately 60 people.

Dan and Sarah Donovan of Easton were among those who picked a spot on the grass early. They said the music was the biggest draw for them, and they were regulars of the festival.

“We like to listen to all music,” Sarah Donovan said. “It’s a great opportunity for people to come to New Haven and to see it’s a lovely city.”

Dan Donovan said the humidity was of no concern.

“We’ve been here in the rain,” he said.

As dance instructor Alisa Bowens led the crowd through bachata and salsa dancing, the crowd began to double, triple and then quadruple in size. As her act, which she called “the biggest dance lesson in Connecticut,” came to a conclusion, she noted the sun peeking through. Right before the musical acts took the stage, people began to fill the Green somewhat.

In brief remarks, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro said the arts and the National Endowment for the Arts are worth fighting for.

“The arts define us: it is about our soul, about our humanity,” she said.

Mayor Toni Harp said the stage, which cuts down on costly rental expenses, would allow the city to invest more in talent. Saturday represented the first of three weekends of festival activities on the Green, she said, and the party would keep moving.

Consul General of Mexico Diego Gómez Pickering said he sees New Haven as a safe haven for MexicanAmericans. Troker, he said, came from Guadalajara, and would be a guaranteed good time for the Elm City.

CATHERINE AVALONE / HEARST CONNECTICUT MEDIA New Haven resident Rafael Ito, 78, who emigrated from Mexico and spends the winter months in Mexico City dances the salsa to Fulaso, a 10-piece multi-cultural band who performs funky, latin, soul classics of the sixties and seventies, Saturday at the...

CATHERINE AVALONE / HEARST CONNECTICUT MEDIA Fulaso, a 10-piece multi-cultural band led by vocalist Erica Ramos performs funky, latin, soul classics of the sixties and seventies, Saturday at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas on the New Haven Green.