Tere Luna
Hartford Public Library Camp Field Branch
Hartford
Aug. 12, 2026
Some people say they don’t believe in coincidences, but how else can you explain two special moon events happening at the library at the same time?
I arrived at the Camp Field branch of the Hartford Public Library just as the partial solar eclipse was reaching its maximum visibility here in Connecticut. While that cosmological event was taking place outdoors, a daughter of the moon was teaching a rapt audience of parents and children about some of the cultural dances and music of Mexico.
Tere Luna, an accomplished singer and dancer, brings her love for her native Mexican culture to audiences across the United States, Puerto Rico and her home country. Her performances are part concert, part instructional series and part history lesson.
The real fun of her events is watching the audience participate as she teaches them some of the dances.
In addition to teaching the audience to dance, Luna performed some more complicated dances on her own. Each song was its own lesson about Mexico as well. When she performed La Bruja, she explained that the song is used to celebrate Dia de los Muertos. Families in Mexico leave offerings for their friends and loved ones who have left this world that represent the four elements: water for them to drink when they are thirsty; their favorite food to represent the earth; incense to represent air and candles for fire.
Luna's singing voice reveals the beauty of Mexico’s folk music. The melodies are often intricate in their refrains. Luna gives each note and tone its own space to be heard. But the performance is so much more than singing. The traditional dress she wore (from Guadalajara) blossomed like a flower as she danced in specially made boots (made specifically for dancing on wooden floors). Her dance for Son de la Negra was particularly captivating. She moved with grace and flair that managed to hold the attention of even the youngest audience members.
It was fun watching the kids learn the dances*, but by the end they were gasping for air and rubbing at their sore shoulders from performing the movements. Dancing is hard, for its technical demands but also for the required physical stamina. All the youthful energy in the world couldn’t help them keep up with Luna, who was on her second 45-minute performance of the day. I was exhausted from watching her.
Children deserve to not only have fun, enriching experiences, but also to be challenged. Learning a new dance on the spot is difficult, and so is overcoming embarrassment and shyness. Those experiences help children to learn what they’re capable of, and thanks to Tere Luna, they’ll always have the story of the day they learned to dance during a solar eclipse.
*Note- I did not record or photograph the children to adhere to the library’s policy regarding minors.
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Jamil heads to a sunset concert in Hartford.
