Corazones con Sazón
Underground Arts
1200 Callowhill St.
Philadelphia, PA
Jan. 31, 2026
Love of all sorts was in the air at Underground Arts on Saturday night. Sazón – Philly’s premier queer Latine dance party – brought out a huge showing to celebrate the culture in a night of pre-Valentine’s Day perreo. The event included dancers, DJs that kept the crowd moving all night long, and a "performative toxicx" contest, and the warmth in the room was enough to melt the several inches of snow and ice still plaguing the city’s streets and sidewalks.
Once attendees braved the coat check line, they were free to enjoy the safe, welcoming, and downright vibey atmosphere provided by Sazón’s DJs – Cvgebird, AgentDMZ, and DJ DESTROYUH – and organizers. When I walked in, I was greeted by one of my favorite reggaeton hits: “Frikitona” by Plan B, a song that is Latine party culture, and that was fantastic foreshadowing for the night to come. One of the dancers – Fyre – expertly moved around the stage and twirled on the pole as partygoers tossed dollar bills in their direction. Lovers, friends, and family members danced together, laughing and goofing around on the dance floor.
Shortly after midnight, the performative toxicx contest began, and 10 attendees eagerly volunteered to participate. Participants, as described by the event’s organizers, had the air of those people you date who leave everyone on read, self-crop all their shirts, and are working on their “second sleeve.” Naturally, I fell prey to each of them, finding them all to be exceedingly charming in different ways.
The contest had three categories: fashion, flexing, and hidden talents. Fashion ranged from cowboy hats to neon green face makeup to floral headpieces. Flexing included any body part contestants wanted to show off, which tended to be buttcheeks or biceps, though the crowd went wild for one person who showed off their back muscles. Finally, the hidden talents covered salsa dancing, spoken word (with “Gatita” by Bellakath playing in the background), and flawless death drop and split combos.
In the end, the winner was the contestant who stunned us all with their death drops and extra flirty eyes at the crowd; I don’t think anyone in there wasn’t blushing at some point. But the best part of the contest was that it didn’t feel competitive, even though they were supposed to be toxic. You could tell each contestant was thrilled to see everyone else’s performance, and no one seemed upset to have lost. In fact, they were excited for the winner.
And that’s what I found to be the most beautiful thing about this event: everyone was supportive of one another. There was more than one “Fuck ICE” chant, which proved to be needed, especially for a room that was majority Latine. To be Latine right now, regardless of status, is to be on edge. It’s to be organizing, looking over your shoulder, planning for who will take care of your pets should you be suddenly taken by several men in an SUV while going to the pharmacy. This was a night to dance that tension off, even if just for a few hours of relief.
The organizers of Sazón are all about fun and games, but not when it comes to their community. They encourage tipping the dancers, perreando, and looking out for each other, and discourage any transphobia or homophobia, chasers, or touching anyone without their consent. And I got the vibe that one of the party’s organizers, Mateo Souada, is always watching and will happily kick out anyone that commits any of these Sazón sins.
As for the crowd, they kept things moving from start to finish. Whether holding onto their friends or a trash can for stability, attendees took dancing seriously. No matter where I looked, I saw folks throwing it back, dropping it low, and shaking it all around. The performance dancers – Fyre, Valencii, and Jiji – motivated us all to keep going and dancing along with them. The energy was infectious, and the DJs made sure to play songs that you can’t help but move to. They played plenty of the old school hits by artists like Daddy Yankee and other DJ Playero artists, and mixed those in with queer Latine rappers like Young Miko and Tokischa.
One of the DJs even played a song I haven’t heard outside of my own home since my dad’s house parties of yore: “Ella y Yo” by Aventura. The song is a dramatic tale of deception and cheating, performed as a back and forth between Don Omar and Romeo Santos. The song had an iconic performance back in 2007 at Madison Square Garden. It’s one of those IYKYK things, and I was so pleased to see that I wasn’t the only person acting out the scene from the early 2000s.
Corazones con Sazón was truly one for the books, and felt like a tender embrace by my community. It showed me that even though the world feels like it’s completely falling apart most of the time, there are still spaces being worked on that are built with intentionality and a lot of love behind them. Sazón is one of those spaces, and its organizers have created a mixed generational, mixed gender, mixed everything community that will keep me coming back for more.
