This weekend, Carnaval will offer the Washington University community a slice of Latinx culture through music, dancing and a skit that reflects upon current issues facing Latin America. This year’s performance, put on by the Association of Latin American Students (ALAS), will include Bachata, belly dancing, Cha-Cha, Cumbia, Folklorico, hip-hop, lyrical Latin fusion, senior dance, tango and West African, along with a new Brazilian drumming routine called Batucada.

About the new addition, senior and Carnaval co-chair Anabel Medrano said, “Sometimes people get frustrated that we only focus on Spanish-speaking Latin American and, in that way, exclude Brazil—so we wanted to change that this year. We’re really excited to have Batucada as a part of Carnaval for the first time.”

Perfomers from Carnaval 2016: Origines dance to Folklorico. The 2017 show, Sin Limites, responds to the current anti-immigration political climate and includes a new dance, the Bachata.

This year, Medrano worked with Romulo Sosa, a sophomore and the other Carnaval co-chair, to lay the foundation for the performance. Their responsibilities ranged from finding choreographers for each dance to assisting the rest of the ALAS executive board to staying on track of behind-the-scenes logistics. Medrano performed in Folklorico as a freshman, acted in the Carnaval skit as a sophomore, choreographed the Folklorico dance as a junior and this year, in addition to serving as co-chair, is dancing in Bachata.

The show’s title this year, Sin Limites, meaning without limits, functions in response to the present anti-immigration political climate and specifically, the rhetoric around building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. It speaks to the fact that Latinx culture has the power to continue flourishing, both in this country and beyond, despite whatever limitations are literally or symbolically imposed upon it.

“We struggle each year with whether to address a topic that affects Latin America generally or that is relevant specifically to Latinos living in the U.S.—and this year, we went with the second choice, really because of the election,” Medrano said of this year’s theme.

Perfomers from Carnaval 2016: Cumbia.

The show’s skit follows three college students as they navigate questions centered around immigration status and what it means to be an American, all in the context of a national protest. Because the lyrical Latin fusion dance relies on words from songs focused on the terrors of deportation, it also serves as a pointed political outlet for the show.

Although ALAS—which is celebrating 25 years in 2017—is a small organization, reflecting the low representation of Latinx students on campus, Carnaval annually includes over 160 students as performers and crew members. Notably, a large number of them identify with cultures beyond the Latin American world.

“The mix of students involved gives the show a really interesting dynamic. Of course, we try to maintain the show’s focus on Latin American identity, but at the same time, we strive to make it true to the performers who are in it,” Medrano said.

It’s those performers and other members of ALAS who Medrano cites as the best part of her Carnaval experience.

“I just have so many funny memories from when we were tired before a performance, laying in the Gargoyle or from the friendly competition between dances that happens every year,” Medrano said. “It’s hard even to imagine my college experience without Carnaval.”

Carnaval will be performed in Edison Theatre on Friday, March 31 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, April 1 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Tickets cost $10 and are available at the Edison Theatre box office or online at edison.wustl.edu.