Valera said the 2024 Latino Diamante Awards wants to acknowledge community support.
Tammy Andino attended to represent her law firm, Mantilla Immigration Law Office. Her firm is one of many that sponsored the ceremony.
“I love galas like this, it’s wonderful,” Andino said. “With the Latin community, I support it wholeheartedly. My daughter’s Latino, so we represent the Latino community.”
The ceremony began at 5 p.m. in an auditorium and opened with “Shine,” a spoken word piece by local poet and comedian Flores Tochihuitl, known as “Dr. T,” accompanied by guitarist Brosnan Granger and vocalist Eden Granger.
Following the opening was a performance of “Diamonds” by Rihanna in Spanish by Dellys Arzolay, the executive director of Club Hispano de Artes. During the song, children and adults from her organization surrounded the stage and held flags representing each Latin American country as well as the United States.
The show had two lively master of ceremonies with a causal presenting style. At the start of the show, master of ceremony Nélida López informed the audience that she would be presenting in both Spanish and English, and all winners gave their acceptance speeches in Spanish.
Nominee Denisse Díaz won the arts and culture award for her Peruvian dance group she started four years ago. Díaz grew up doing Peruvian dance, and said she was inspired by that passion to start the troupe.
“She has a passion for dancing,” Díaz’s translator, Enrique Poña, said. “She likes to transmit to people the love for the dance.”
Díaz’s win that night was met with cheers and celebratory hugs from her friends and family. Earlier, Díaz said she was surprised to be nominated because it was her first time.
Throughout the ceremony, several winners were filled with emotion and supported with boisterous applause and cheers from the audience. Many expressed their love for families and community members in acceptance speeches.
López, who lived in Asheville before moving to Chapel Hill, also spoke to the crowd about the impact of Hurricane Helene. A portion of the proceeds from ticket sales went to help those affected by the hurricane in western North Carolina.
To get the day’s news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.
A part of the ceremony was dedicated to a moment of silence for those affected. Audience members raised an LED diamond ring given to them before the ceremony to represent “shining bright” for people in Western North Carolina. Following, was a reprise in English of Rihanna’s “Diamonds” by a group of five Spanish singers called Voces Latinas de Carolina del Norte.
There were several other soulful song and dance performances throughout the evening.
Dance troupes included the Eduardo de Rosamaria’s Flamenco Ensemble and Flor de Hidalgo, a group dedicated to traditional Mexican culture and dance.
A local puppeteering group, Paperhand Puppet Intervention, often joined the performers in the background of their performances, making the message of songs come alive to the audience.
At the end of the ceremony, every guest was invited to a dance party — the perfect conclusion to a night of joy and celebration.
@dthlifestyle | lifestyle@dailytarheel.com
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article said that the ceremony opened with a performance of “This Little Light of Mine” by guitarist Brosnan Granger and vocalist Eden Granger, accompanied by a spoken word performance by Flores Tochihuitl. The performance was a spoken word recitation of “Shine” by Flores Tochihuitl, accompanied by guitarist Brosnan Granger and vocalist Eden Granger. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for this error.