Local, superstar Afro-Latin band Quitapenas performed Sunday at the Riverside Art Museum as part of Cosme Cordova’s Division 9 gallery takeover during the museum's monthly Free Sunday programming. The event, hosted by Richie "Deladeso" Velazquez, also featured Los Angeles-based band Milpa.
But it was what happened in the audience that transformed the afternoon from critical observation into something more elemental and participatory.
It was hot in the gallery. Most people stayed seated. But one woman was carried away by an irresistible rhythm.
Whether she arrived expecting it or simply stumbled into the music, her willingness to step fully into public expression was remarkable. She danced through every second of the set. Shoes off, summer dress flowing, sweaty, smiling, she claimed the gallery floor with the confidence of someone who knew she was the one responding properly while everyone else just watched. Her full-body commitment to Quitapenas' Afro-Latin rhythms became a masterclass in authenticity.
"If you're on the fence this is probably your last chance to dance for the day, so... a bailar," called out Hector Chavez from the band. But this woman needed no encouragement. She had already discovered what quitapenas means, to dance through heat and discomfort, to let music lift your worries. Quitapenas plays music that doesn’t just invite dance but demands surrender to it.
Watching her move, the question emerged: are moments of transcendent response something we find, or something we bring? She brought openness, fearlessness, the willingness to be fully present. But the music found her, too. The space allowed it. The convergence of art and sound created conditions for magic.
To happen upon something that moves you to dance is an ultimate luxury. Many experience it rarely, unwilling to allow it often. But this woman welcomed the surprise. She knew that when music like Quitapenas fills a space, the proper response isn’t polite appreciation, it’s joy, felt with the whole body.
In our careful, self-conscious world, her uninhibited movement felt almost revolutionary, a reminder that when music fills a room, the best thing we can do is let it take us over.
