Get your best salsa and cumbia moves on at VLACC's I Like It Like That! on October 10
Featuring live music, DJs, and dance lessons, the event is part of Latin Expressions 2026, hosted by the Vancouver Latin American Community Centre
Left to right, Trópico Norte, Salseo
As part of Latin Expressions 2026, the Vancouver Latin American Community Centre presents I Like It Like That! at Performance Works on October 10 at 7 pm
SOME SONGS JUST refuse to die. As originally recorded in 1967 by New York boogaloo pianist and bandleader Pete Rodriguez, “I Like It Like That” is a guaranteed party-starter, due in no small part to the fact that it sounds as if a party was actually in progress in the studio and someone was savvy enough to hit the Record button.
In the mid 1990s, a version by Latin supergroup the Blackout All-Stars (featuring Tito Puente, Sheila E., and others) became a surprise hit after being featured in, of all things, a Burger King commercial. More recently, rapper Cardi B and her producers sampled the original recording for her single “I Like It”. That track, also featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin, was the undisputed summer jam of 2018.
It’s fitting, then, that I Like It Like That! is the title that’s been given to the dance party at Latin Expressions 2026. There’s no guarantee that you’ll hear the song in question at the event. Trópico Norte—a DJ trio made up of vinyl selectors Ana Rivera (Mexico), Diana Puentes (Colombia), and Tom Howard (Canada) will share sounds from all across Latin America and the Caribbean. We’re talking salsa, cumbia, boogaloo, and other Caribbean-rooted rhythms, so you will almost certainly hear something that will make you want to dance—even if you don’t know how.
No worries on that front, as the queer Latinx-led collective Salseo will be on hand to teach you some salsa and cumbia steps.
You can then try those moves out during a live set by Midnight Boogaloo. Led by Colombian guitarist Alan Ruiz, the Vancouver-based band takes its cues from the vibrant New York Latin music scene of the 1960s and 1970s—the very same scene that gave birth to “I Like It Like That”.
Presented by the Vancouver Latin American Cultural Centre, Latin Expressions 2026 also includes literary events, exhibition tours of contemporary and pre-Columbian art, a film screening, and more. See the website for more info. 
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