I spent stretches of my childhood in Venezuela, where my mom is from. I’m very grateful I learned to speak Spanish as a kid. Also, I learned how to dance merengue and salsa — mostly by hanging on when my cousins whipped me around the dance floor. Tambores was harder. It required me to dance alone, twitching my hips while moving in a circle. Venezuelans are bringing tambores with them as they disperse around the country. When I learned about tambores being performed in New York City, I knew I had to write about it. The article is in the Arts & Leisure section this weekend.