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Colombian NYC

Colombian NYC is centered in “Little Colombia” in Jackson Heights, Queens. The Colombian Flower Festival and Colombian Parade are our big New York City Colombian celebrations. ¡Cafeteros!

Colombian Archive

Colombian Festivals NYC

New York City’s big Colombian festivals include the Colombian Parade, Colombian Flower Festival and Colombian Film Festival.

Colombian New York City

John Leguizamo and Alex Sensation are New York City’s most famous Colombians. Dayssi Olarte De Kanavos is our most famous socialite.

“Little Colombia” is around Roosevelt Avenue and 84th St in Jackson Heights. Terraza 7 is a Latin jazz club in Elmhurst/Jackson Heights, Queens that was created by a Colombian doctor. When you walk in, it immediately feels like home.

ID Studio Theater in Mott Haven, The Bronx is a Colombian arts collective led by telenovela star Germán Jaramillo, jazz composer Pablo Mayor and choreographer Daniel Fetecua (Limón Dance).

Cali Salsa Pal Mundo teaches Salsa Colombiana (stage salsa) in Jackson Heights, Queens and hosts the Queens Salsa Congress. Adriana Salgado Neira and Orlando Reyes are some of NYC’s best Argentine tango performers and teachers.

Most Colombian New Yorkers are paisas from Medellín, Antioquia. They are famed for their business sense.

Fernando Botero is the most popular Latin artist in the art auctions. He used to have an apartment and studio in the Upper East Side. There are versions of his Adam and Eve in Time Warner Center. So many people touch Adam’s manhood that it is polished like gold. They say touching it brings good luck.

Juan Valdez in Midtown East makes a great cup of Colombian coffee. Dulce Vida, in the Upper East Side, is Manhattan’s only Colombian restaurant/bakery. You can get a good Ajiaco there. You can’t get the famed soup at most Colombian restaurants because it’s a Bogotá speciality, whereas most Colombian restaurants in New York serve Medellín cuisine like Bandeja paisa.

Empanada Mama makes Colombian empanadas in the Lower East Side and Hell’s Kitchen. Colombian empanadas are fried, but not greasy. Pollos Mario fried chicken is a Colombian tradition for watching football (soccer).

Colombian New Yorkers

La Excelencia

Friday, March 20, 2020
Album release
–
This New York hard salsa band popular with dancers returns to the scene with the release of “Machete,” its first album in almost a decade.

Continue Reading La Excelencia

En el Ojo de la Aguja

September 7-22, 2019
HELL’S KITCHEN, NYC ~ A Colombian director and his theatre company explore how in the age of the internet and social media, actually communicating has become harder than threading a needle. In Spanish with English subtltles.

Continue Reading En el Ojo de la Aguja

John Leguizamo

NETFLIX, Oct 25, 2018 ~ Leguizamo makes it funny, but our ignorance of our own culture is no joke. We have a lot to be proud of – in our own culture and in our contributions to American culture.
# colombian latin history netflix tv broadway off-broadway

Continue Reading John Leguizamo

Colombians & Colombian-Americans

Colombian Culture

Cumbia is originally Colombian from the Caribbean region.

Salsa Colombiana is also Caribbean, especially from Barranquilla, Atlantico, but is now centered in Cali, Valle de Cauca. Cali has a unique stage salsa culture.

There is a strong group of reggaetoneros, including some Puerto Ricans, in Medellín, Antioquia.

Medellín has strong tango culture. Paisas even speak Castellano like Argentines. Tango icon Carlos Gardel died in a plane crash on his way to a performance in Medellín.

Colombians are crazy for Christmas nativities. Moms compete to have the best one in the neighborhood.

Colombia

Colombia has many distinct regions including Caribbean and Pacific coasts, Andes mountains, Llanos plains and Amazon rainforests. The cultural diversity that goes with that is surprising for a single nation. It is also one of the world’s most biodiverse countries.

Ironically the longest civil war in the Americas (since 1964) kept many regions from developing so old ways remain. Today you can travel through most of the country and discover the riches of Colombian culture.

Colombian cumbia dancers at Barranquilla Carnival (Pablo Hidalgo/Dreamstime)
Colombian cumbia dancers at Barranquilla Carnival (Pablo Hidalgo/Dreamstime)

The kids are dancing Colombian cumbia, the traditional dance of the Colombian Caribbean. The boy wears campesino (farmer) clothes and holds a traditional Colombian hat on the left. The girl wears a pollera, the Andalusián peasant dress that Colombian women wore in colonial times. Beauty is greatly valued in Colombia, so the girl wears a beauty queen’s crown.

Dios te bendiga.

South American

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