Spend the weekend dancing with your valentine to the lively folk groove music of Los Pinguos, a band from Argentina that will perform in Marquette.

“I encourage students to come to the concert because it’s going to be a lot of fun and they’re going to love dancing to this music,” said Dan Truckey, director of the Beaumier Museum.

The committee that runs the International Series of Performing Arts each year decides which types of music and culture they want to bring to Northern. This year, they wanted to Latin music to be one of the six shows.

“Los Pinguos are from Argentina which is a different type of musical tradition than we’ve brought here before, so that was part of the reason,” Truckey said.

Los Pinguos moved from Argentina to California in 2001, and later appeared in Ed McMahon’s TV show, “The Next Big Star,” and won the grand prize. They’ve gained worldwide fame and currently tour throughout the United States and other countries.

“I think it’s an opportunity for students to be exposed to a musical culture that they normally never would pay attention to. It’s great for them to learn a new type of music and to dance and have fun at the same time,” Truckey said.

Los Pinguos describe themselves as a folk groove act, playing Argentine folk music in a contemporary, dance-oriented way.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun and, especially since it’ll be Valentine’s Day, pretty romantic as well. It’s going to cover a lot of bases and it’ll be a lot of fun,” Truckey said.

Los Pinguos will perform on Saturday, Feb. 12 in the Great Lakes Rooms of the University Center. Tickets cost $5 in advance for students or $6 at the door.

There are two more shows after this week’s performance. These are Dala, a Canadian singer-songwriting duo, and Muavais Sort, a “folk ‘n’ roll” band from Quebec.