Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture is the performing arts center of Hostos Community College (CUNY) in Mott Haven, The Bronx, one of New York City’s crucibles of culture. Hostos presents artists you won’t see anywhere else, often a deep dive into Latin culture. Tickets are less than in Manhattan. Hostos Center is not commercial. It’s educational. It’s Hostos!
Thank you for sponsoring Latin art, comedy, dance, music, and theatre. Hostos is part of our DNA.
Latin Culture at Hostos Center
MARCH
Argentine Folk Music
Jorge Luis “Coqui” Sosa, leads a Women’s History Month tribute to his aunt, Argentine folk legend Mercedes Sosa (“Gracias a la Vida”); at Hostos Center at Hostos Community College, in Mott Haven, The Bronx; on Saturday, March 15, 2025 at 7:30pm. From $20. Students/Children $5. hostos.cuny.edu 🇦🇷
Dominican Contemporary Dance
Stephanie Peña “Pajón de Agua” is a World Premiere contemporary dance tribute to the beauty of Afro hair; at Hostos Center at Hostos Community College, in Mott Haven, The Bronx; on Saturday, March 22, 2025 at 7:30pm. From $12. Students/Under 18, $5. hostos.cuny.edu 🇩🇴
Editor KíkoKí ~ This resonates in me. In the Dominican Republic, pajón is African curly hair. Most Dominicans deny our African roots. Hairstyle is a sign of either European/Indigenous (straight) or African (curly) descent. Because of the caste system left by our colonial legacy, most women prefer to have straight hair. My wife is a Dominican barrio hair stylist, so most of her business is straightening hair. Her physical feature that I love the most is the roots of her hair which are curly. She’s always straightening her hair for work, so her African curls usually only show in the baby hairs on her hairline. When she isn’t working for a few days, she’ll let her hair out. She is her most beautiful self in pajón. I would really like her to see this show. Especially now, we should be proud of our heritage, all of it. So let your hair out. Abre el pajón.
FEBRUARY
Dominican Women’s Art
Roots & Rebirth, Dominican Women in Art, shows 22 contemporary artists expressing what it means to be part of the Diaspora Dominicana. The exhibition, curated by Austria Ulloa, opens with a reception at the Hostos Art Gallery at Hostos Center at Hostos Community College, in Mott Haven, The Bronx; on Wednesday, February 19, 2025, from 6-8pm. It continues through April 16, 2025. hostos.cuny.edu 🇩🇴
Exhibition artists include: Adela Doré, América Olivo, América Rodríguez, Ana María López, Carmen Inés Bencosme, Citlally Miranda, Ileana García, Inés Tolentino, Iris Pérez, Joiri Minaya, Judith Mora, Julianny Ariza, Luanda Lozano, Luz Severino, Marcia Guerrero, Nathalie Landestoy, Patricia Encarnación, Paula Saneaux, Scherezade García, Soraya Abu Naba’a, Wildriana Paulino, and Yelaine Rodríguez.
Being Dominicana is an art form unto itself. Dominican culture is a wonderful blend of old and new, and rich and poor, with incredible diversity. Machista culture, social strata, and educational limits are constant challenges. Finding your way in the United States is another challenge. But Dominicans have natural hustle, just like New Yorkers, so tend to be successful. And Dominican women are strong women.
Ecuadorian Folk Dance and Music
This is ¡Ecuador! is a show of Ecuadorian dance and music from ancient traditions to today, produced by the Ecuadorian American Culture Center. It features dances by Arte Andino Rimay Llakta, Allpayana, Ayazama, and Ñawpa Mashikuna; plus music by Amawta Roots; in the Repertory Theater at Hostos Center at Hostos Community College in Mott Haven, The Bronx; on Saturday, February 22, 2025 at 7:45pm. From $35, $30 students and seniors. hostos.cuny.edu 🇪🇨
Dominican Bachata and Merengue
¡Bachatarengue Dominicano! features bachata pioneer Leonardo Paniagua, merengue superstars Richie Cepeda and Monchy Capricho, and rising star Jerry Zyno. They are backed by Jay Rivera & NCue Band and hosted by comedian Ralphy Almonte in the Main Theater at Hostos Center at Hostos Community College in Mott Haven, The Bronx; on Friday, February 28, 2025 at 7:30pm. From $20. $5 Students/Children. hostos.cuny.edu 🇩🇴
Hostos Center Tickets
Student tickets can be as low as $5.
Hostos Community College
450 Grand Concourse
(between 149th & 144th St)
Mott Haven, The Bronx
(718) 518-4455
About Hostos Center
Hostos is one of the leading Latin performing arts centers in America. Curation is excellent. You can see great artists that you won’t see elsewhere, and tickets are cheaper. It’s a great place to see Latin culture because Latin culture is community-oriented, and Hostos Center feels like home.
Hostos Center venues:
- Longwood Art Gallery
- Main Theater (seats 884)
- Repertory Theater (seats 367)
Hostos
Eugenio María de Hostos y de Bonilla (1839-1903) was a Puerto Rican scientist, educator and independence advocate who worked for equal rights and education for all people. He supported the education of women when that was not popular. He didn’t just talk, he built.
“I wish that they will say: In that island (Puerto Rico) a man was born who loved truth, desired justice, and worked for the good of men.”
Eugenio Hostos wrote his own epitaph.
Hostos won’t return to Puerto Rico until it is free, so he is buried in the Panteón de la Patria, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. We went to visit him and cried out loud, because this was a great man who is loved throughout the Caribbean for his work.
Social Media
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Latin Artists
Many great Latin artists play Hostos Center. This is just since 2022.
Ángel Vázquez “The Other Side Story” Puerto Rican theatre. 🇵🇷
Annette A. Aguilar & StringBeans Nicaraguan jazz, salsa, rock. 🇧🇷🇮🇹🇳🇮
Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra Cuban jazz. 🇨🇺
Bulla en el Barrio, bullerengue 🇨🇴
Calpulli Mexican Dance Company folkloric dance. 🇲🇽
Danza Fiesta Puerto Rican bomba, plena, seis dance. 🇵🇷
Gilberto Santa Rosa Puerto Rican salsa. 🇵🇷
Hèctor “Tito” Matos Puerto Rican bomba and plena. 🇵🇷
Jane Bunnett & Maqueque Cuban jazz. 🇨🇺
Josean Jacobo Dominican jazz. 🇩🇴
Lena Burke Cuban bolero. 🇨🇺
Los Pleneros de la 21 Puerto Rican bomba and plena. 🇵🇷
Malena Burke Cuban bolero. 🇨🇺
Mambo Legends Orchestra Tito Puente’s legacy band. 🇵🇷
National Puerto Rican Artisans Fair Puerto Rican art. 🇵🇷
Nélida Tirado Puerto Rican Spanish flamenco. 🇵🇷 🇪🇸
Orchestra of St Luke’s classical music. 🇨🇦
Papo Vázquez and the Mighty Pirates Troubadours Puerto Rican jazz. 🇵🇷
Paquito D’Rivera Cuban jazz. 🇨🇺
Repertorio Español Hispanic theatre. 🇨🇺
Spanish Harlem Orchestra Puerto Rican jazz and salsa. 🇵🇷
Teatro SEA America’s Latino theatre for young audiences. 🇵🇷
Tito Rodríguez Jr Puerto Rican mambo and salsa. 🇵🇷
Xiomara Fortuna, Afro Dominican fusion. 🇩🇴
Xiomara Laugart Cuban bolero. 🇨🇺
Zaccai Curtis Afro-Cuban Jazz Quartet. Puerto Rican Cuban jazz.🇵🇷 🇨🇺
Recent Latin Programming
NOVEMBER
Puerto Rican & Cuban Jazz & La Lupe Tribute
Puerto Rican trumpeter Humberto Ramírez celebrates 40 years of jazz with his most iconic songs, featuring vocalist Michelle “La Brava,” his band, and the Mambo Legends Orchestra. In the second half, the Mambo Legends pay tribute to iconic Cuban bolero singer La Lupe, “The Queen of Latin Soul,” with vocals by Lena Burke and “La Brava”, arranged by José Madera, backed by the Bronx Arts Ensemble’s 25-piece string section. It’s hosted by Tito’s old friend from El Barrio, “Joe Conzo, Sr. This enchanting night is at Hostos Center in Mott Haven, The Bronx; on Saturday, November 9, 2024 at 7:30pm. From $45. Students/Children $5.
Hostos Center puts together magical concerts that are also an education in our music history, and our legacy as Caribbean Americans.
- Humberto Ramírez has a smooth jazz sound that feels like a night on the beach in Luquillo, Puerto Rico ~ a long night with someone you love.
- La Lupe (Qué Te Pedí, Puro Teatro, La Tirana, Fever), New York’s most popular Latin singer during the early 1960s, was known for her passionate boleros, the kind where the club dims the lights and you dance real close with every emotion you don’t dare show in the light. It’s the best dance of the night, one you don’t forget. She crossed over into Latin Soul with songs like “Fever.” She lived through crazy times in New York City , and La Lupe was so intense that she truly lived her music. They don’t make them like that any more.
- Mambo Legends Orchestra is Tito Puente’s legacy band. Puente famously sounded Cuban, and worked a lot with La Lupe.
- Lena Burke is the scion of the legendary Burke family of Cuban singers.
- Bronx Arts Ensemble represents the next generation of home grown talent.
This concert of great Puerto Rican and Cuban artists recalls the famous saying Lola Rodríguez de Tió famously said that “
Cuba and Puerto Rico
Lola Rodríguez de Tió, “A Cuba” from “Mi Libro de Cuba” Poesías” (1893)
are as two wings of the same bird
Lola Rodríguez de Tió was a Puerto Rican poet, journalist, and independence advocate. She was right. Cuban and Puerto Rico have the rich relationship of a brother and sister. From the same family, they are each unique.
OCTOBER
Latin Folk
Sofía Rei, the Grammy-nominated Argentine singer-songwriter is joined by Guatemalan singer Gaby Moreno, Cuban rumba jazz singer Daymé Arocena, Mexican Dominican Puerto Rican mariachi Mireya Ramos (Flor Toloache), Argentine folk singers Charo Bogarín and Juana Luna for a concert of “Folk & Futurism;” in the Repertory Theater at Hostos Center in Mott Haven, The Bronx; on Wednesday, October 9, 2024 at 7pm. FREE with registration. 🇦🇷 🇨🇺 🇩🇴 🇬🇹 🇲🇽 🇵🇷
Puerto Rican Alternative
Kianí Medina takes her debut album down the Bori Corridor Tour of Puerto Rican communities in the States. She is very active on the island with Puerto Rican artists Residente, El Laberinto del Coco, Cultura Profética, and others. It’s in the Art Gallery at Hostos Center, in Mott Haven, The Bronx; on Saturday, October 19, 2024 at 8pm. $25 / Students $5 🇵🇷
JUNE
Puerto Rican Jazz
Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band; featuring Janis Siegel (Manhattan Transfer), Antoinette Montague (Duke Ellington Orchestra), Sugar Hill Nutcracker star Jennifer Jade Ledesna, and the Danza Fiesta dancers; celebrate Puerto Rico’s greatest composers in the Main Theater at Hostos Center at Hostos Community College in Mott Haven, The Bronx; on Saturday, June 22, 2024 at 7:30pm. 🇵🇷 🇺🇸
APRIL
Bilingual Puppet Theatre
Teatro SEA “Ricitos y Los 3 Ositos” (Ricitos and the 3 Bears) is a bilingual Goldilocks story; in the Main Theater at Hostos Center at Hostos College (CUNY) in Mott Haven, The Bronx; on Saturday, April 20, 2024 at 3pm. $10. 🇵🇷