Of the lights shining at the east end of Lake Street these days, none shines brighter than the one outside El Nuevo Rodeo. The restaurant at street-level is pretty basic, but the minute you climb the stairs to the second floor, you enter another world, with open space stretching across two buildings, rustic cantina-style furniture, and two warmly lit bars. With the wagon wheels and long-horn steer skulls hanging on the walls, the South-of-the-Border flavor is unmistakable, and it’s enhanced by the Latinos from across the Twin Cities who come to dance, socialize, drink, listen to music, and, well, feel at home.

The club is located on the site of the pioneering Mexican club, Vannanny’s, near the corner of Minnehaha and Lake Street, in a neighborhood burgeoning with new Mexican eateries, books stores, and health clinics. It’s been in operation for two years now, and during that time owners Maya and Nicolas Lopez-Santamaria have spruced it up considerably. They’ve also made it a point to bring in bands of international stature to perform on the elevated stage at the west end of the large dance floor.

Maya and Nicolas have been mainstays on the Latin scene for quite a while now. Nicholas, who grew up on Saint Paul’s West side, founded Midwest Latino Entertainment, and was the force behind the original Latino dance nights at both the Quest and First Avenue. Maya, who handles bookings along with her husband, is also the lead singer in the salsa band Sabor Tropical. Their booking agency occasionally brings in shows to the Wilkins Auditorium and other major venues, but as Maya remarked, “It’s much more pleasant to be at a club, with bathrooms, tables, security, and a little class.” Both are half-Mexican, and in 1999 Maya’s interest in the local history of Mexican music led to a book and CD combo, Musica de la Raza: Mexican and Chicano Music in Minnesota, which she wrote for the Minnesota Historical Society.

In the course of any week a veritable encyclopedia of Latino musical styles can be heard at the club. Mondays are devoted to Salsa and Meringue, for example, and Wednesdays the place hops to a Cumbia rhythm. But El Nuevo Rodeo’s distinctive personality is shaped by what Maya calls regional Mexican music. “This is the music I grew up with, and ignored,” she says. “Salsa just seemed more exciting. But Norteño music is really where it’s at now in the Latino scene.”
Even within this field the variations are considerable, and in recent weeks the club has served as a venue for banda music, conjunto bands and the quebradita style, which brings a more modern, techo-element to the proceedings.

The currently rage is Duranguense, which developed in Chicago among Mexican immigrants from the province of Durango—though you’d probably never hear anything like it in Durango itself. The instrumentation typically includes two keyboards, a bass guitar or two, a drummer, and a musician who beats a big base drum while at the same time smacking two symbols together energetically. The songs are invariably upbeat, which is not surprising, considering the preponderance of rhythmic elements involved, and the vocals tend to be staccato and fast-paced too.

On nights featuring salsa El Nuevo Rodeo draws a mixed crowd of young dancers, but on a typical Saturday night it’s likely to consist almost exclusively of young Mexicans drawn from all over town by word-of-mouth or the advertising on the venerable Latino radio station, Radio Rey, which happens to be located in the building across the street. The men wear boots and cowboy hats with the brims rolled up—white hats outnumber black hats three to one. While waiting in line on the stairs to get in, I asked one young vaquero what his elegant white boots were made of. Armadillo? Alligator? “I don’t know,” he said.

They frisk you as you enter and coat-check is mandatory, but once inside the place has a friendly feel, with dancing in the east room and a more casual sitting area in a second expansive room to the west. Both rooms are equipped with long bars, and there is also a small corner room with strobe lights where a DJ guides the action and the dancing appears to be more modern. Packs of bare-shouldered young women move back and forth, in and out of the corner room, while at the other end of the cavernous hall the band is blaring and couples are dancing fast and tight.
The bartender who brought me my beer was from Mexico City.

“I hear that in the Mexico City they don’t listen to this Norteño stuff,” I said. He nodded and scowled good-naturedly.
“Well, what do they listen to down there?”
“Acid rock. Black Sabbath,” he replied, grinning.

I asked a few people where they were from, and the answers ranged from West Saint Paul to Texas to Durango itself. One couple I spoke with knew very little English, though they’ve been in this country three years, and another young man standing next to me took the initiative in telling me his story—probably to practice his language skills. “I come from Durango, I’ve been here one month. I have two jobs.” He said. At this point he got very excited. “I send money home to my parents in Durango, so they can dig a hole for water.”
“A well?”
“Yes, they must carry water every day down from the mountain.” And he imitated an old man lugging a water-can.
I asked if I could take his picture.
“Oh no. We don’t believe in that. It’s witchcraft,’ he replied.

Every year Maya and Nicolas make an effort to bring in at least one or two super-shows. In February they scheduled the remarkable La Arrolladova Banda El Limon de Rame Camacho, which has been playing big-horned banda music throughout Mexico since 1965; and on March 21 one of the world’s great “soneros,” Venezuelan Oscar de Leon, made an appearance.
In the world of Latino music new forms are always taking shape, and the next thing that Nicolas and Maya hope to book live is reggaeton, which combines the social commentary of hip-hop with a danceable reggae beat. The style is already part of the DJ mix every Wednesday night.
“The Twin Cities is usually the last place to hear the latest styles,” Maya told me, “but I think we’re ready for live reggaeton.”