Look Who it Was Random video

On Location: AMLA (by Antonia Pantoja Charter School, Philadelphia, PA)

357 views · Published 9 July 2018 · 3:53 · Indexed 6 November 2026

Channel: Kennedy Center Education Digital Learning · 2018 · Education

Watch on YouTube

In 1982, Jesse Bermudez started an organization named AMLA (Artistas y Musicos Latino Americanos). This organization helps students develop their musical talents. Jesse wished for an organization like this when he was a younger, and has now turned his wish into reality. He is proud of his community and the work that he does.

Artistas y Músicos Latino Americanos (AMLA) is an organization that promotes Latin music in Philadelphia and shares Latino culture and history with the community's youth. Since its start, AMLA has trained new Latino artists and opened up major venues for Latino musicians, making Latin music a major part of Philadelphia's music scene.

There are many diverse styles of Latin music that originated from or were made popular by different Latin American countries, including the Puerto Rican Salsa, the Brazilian Samba, and the Argentinean Tango. In general, Latin music is influenced by Spanish song forms, African and Latin rhythms, European classical music, and modern genres such as rock, reggae and hip-hop.

North Philadelphia is special in its own ways. The community believes in many different religions, foods, cultures and arts. It is filled with people from different places, including Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Colombian, Mexicans, and African American people. A lot of the music we have comes from our Latin culture; and we love to dance in festivals, parades, and at home. Like any other community we also have our movie theater, museums and many other local places.

From 2008-2010, nineteen schools from across the United States created videos as part of the On Location program. A "media studio on wheels" visited each school for two weeks and provided students the gear and training to tell the story of the arts in their community.

From go-go music in Washington DC, to gullah woodburning in Beaufort, South Carolina, to modern dance in Berkley, Michigan, the arts of a community can be as different as it's geography.

The Kennedy Center traveled the country to help students tell the story of the arts in their community, and the result is a video collection reflecting a rich diversity of local artists and art forms across the United States.

The videos in this series were scripted, produced and edited by students using professional equipment, under the supervision of Kennedy Center teaching artists.

More from this channel