Experience the dazzle of Stylos 2012

Activist Dolores Huerta will be honored with the Orgullo Award.

By Ruben Hernandez

If you’ve ever been to past Stylos Awards ceremonies, you’ll recall the sharp-dress Latinos and Latinas, the dazzling fashion show with local models to a throbbing musical beat and colored lights, the delicious food, and the entertaining line-up of live contemporary music and dance performances.

All this hoopla is built around the awards given to honor Latinos for their talents and positive contributions they’ve made in Arizona.

If you have never attended, then here’s your opportunity for a fun night out while helping to fund scholarships for Latino students.

This year 7^th Annual Stylos Awards 2012 will be held in the Great Hall of the Phoenix Art Museum, 1625 N. Central Ave. in Phoenix at 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 30.

Created by Latino millennials, each year the Stylos organizing committee selects a group of potential honorees in various categories, and allows the public to vote for their faves via the Stylos Website and social media.

The participants include artists, performers, entrepreneurs, activists, athletes, journalists, and other people who are making positive differences in our community.

Wondering who will be honored builds the excitement until the finalists are announced on ceremony night among a crowd that bring together people of all ages and cultures.

One award winner that Stylos promoters are announcing is long-time civil rights activist Dolores Huerta, who will be honored with the Orgullo Award for her lifetime dedication to the Latino community. Huerta is best known for her advocacy work alongside Cesar Chavez in the United Farm Workers organization.

Best of all, all proceeds from this event go towards scholarships for worthy Dreamer Latino students who want to go to college or a university. The recipients are chosen by members of the Isac Amaya Foundation, named after a young Latino Dreamer and member of the El Break radio show team who died in a car accident. The foundation’s mission is to increase the numbers of Latinos who graduate from higher education.

Performers and participants include emcees Gerardo Higginson from Univision 33 and Karla Navarrete from CBS 5; the B-Side Players, bringing their mix of Latin American sounds from San Diego, Calif.; Salvador Duran, the ultimate showman from Tucson; popular music by the A. Ferrari Band; DJ Lunix making the patio vibrate, and DJ Zapata mixing for Stylos’ fashion show.

The fashion show is always a dazzling affair featuring fashions by local designers Natalia Acosta, Giovanna Aviles, Nostra Style House, Kactus Jock and Buckle of Scottsdale Fashion.

Sayra Sandoval, Stylos spokeswoman, says that the choreographed runway show will feature local, aspiring models whom auditioned for the show. These young men and women earned a professional photo shoot and will use the Stylos experience to create their own modeling portfolios.

Past Stylos Awards performers and recipients include Carla Morrison — who just won a Latin Grammy for best alternative album (Mejor de musica alternativa); Councilman Michael Nowakowski;  former Arizona Governor Raul Castro;  and local boxer José Benavidez Jr.

A walk through the red carpet begins at 6 p.m. The awards ceremony will start at 7 p.m., which will include its signature “half time” fashion show followed by headliner band the B-Side Players at 9 p.m. Tickets are available at www.StylosAwards.com.

Sponsors include ArizonaLatinos.com; Univision Phoenix; La Voz; TV y Mas; 100.3 FM La Kalle; Torres Marquez Communications; Hernandez Global; Lehm Law Group; and the Phoenix Art Museum, among others.