Latitude 47

Gurú's middle name

In December 2007, right in the middle of Calle Uruguay, Gurú opened: a nightclub of unusual scale for Panama City, announced with a capacity of over two thousand people, a red carpet, acrobats, and a premiere that featured Los Rabanes. Within a few years, the same venue reappeared as Latitude 47—also written as Latitud 47 and Latitude 47º—the identity it kept in Bella Vista. The press already referred to it as the former Gurú: a continuity of building and dance floor.

A year of international house

The densest electronic trail is between late 2010 and 2011. For New Year's, Yousef was scheduled on that dance floor. In January, Mark Knight, founder of Toolroom, played with a local lineup—David Pinto, Nigel Mack, Tom Sawyer, and Edgardo Fuentes—and was filmed in an elevated booth, with a disco ball and blue light over the crowd. In June, Alexi Delano arrived from Sweden for the first anniversary of Golden Productions. In December, Loco Dice was announced at Club LATITUDE47 Former GURU. It wasn't a superclub with an infallible weekly schedule; it was a large room in Bella Vista that, during that season, was able to sustain top-tier house and techno.

Dance floor and concert hall

The venue was never just a club. In 2011, Rubén Blades recorded an intimate concert there, with valet parking, a welcome drink, and capacity reduced to 408 tickets in a space that was said to hold two thousand. Jowell y Randy, Ñejo, dancehall, rock tributes, and plena clashes all passed through. That double life—dance floor and concert hall—explains the subsequent shift toward venue rentals.

Four halls in Marbella

Today the building is located on Calle 47 Este, Marbella neighborhood, across from Crepes & Waffles, a step away from the Calle Uruguay area. It is presented as a reception and event hall: four integrated halls, from 25 to 1,000 people, with screens, projectors, and lights. The booth and stage are still there. Dropfreak performed in 2022 and Late Night Music has used two spaces for house and afro house nights from midnight to six. It is no longer marketed as a permanent superclub, but the Bella Vista dance floor still lights up when electronic programming calls for it.