5/2/2022
Education and Outreach
Guadalupe Gonzalez strongly advocates for teaching artforms that are culturally important to her students.
As the director of folklorico and mariachi instruction at Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts, Gonzalez helps her Mexican and Mexican-American students better understand their cultural heritage through dance and music.
“Teaching these types of arts helps to keep them alive, and ensure that they are passed on to future generations,” says Gonzalez.
That’s one reason Gonzalez recently partnered with The Smith Center’s Education and Outreach team to offer her students a master class with professional dancers from the internationally acclaimed Ballet Folklorico de Mexico, which performs traditional Mexican dances worldwide.
“Most of my students have never had the chance to travel to see professional folklorico up close, or to receive any kind of instruction from a professional in the field,” she says. “So they were very excited about this very unique opportunity.”
From the Stage to the Classroom
A long-practiced folk dance, folklorico portrays the stories of many people’s lives and cultures. Just as there are many different regions of Mexico, there are also many different ways to dance folklorico.
Ballet Folklórico de Mexico, founded in 1952 by choreographer Amalia Hernández, remains Mexico’s best-known traditional dance company. As a nonprofit, The Smith Center organized master classes with the company’s performers at no cost to schools.
The day after the company’s sold-out performance at The Smith Center on March 23, Ballet Folklorico ensemble dancers Carlos Antunez Tiburrico and Ariana Cavett visited Del Sol Academy to teach a bilingual, hands-on master class to 15 students.
The experience offered Gonzalez’s students an inspiring, inside peek at the stunning talent, technique and discipline of professional dancers in such a high-caliber dance company.
This came at the right time, she says.
“The master class with Carlos and Ariana did so much to revive my students’ feeling of being excited to perform, especially after all the challenges they faced during the pandemic,” she says.
That same day, another pair of Ballet Folklorico ensemble dancers, Ana Paola Zamacona Licona and Daniel Rodríguez, visited Sunrise Mountain High School to host a master class with 30 students in the school’s ballet folklorico program.
This master class proved an immensely valuable experience for the students, says Karla Villalobos-Cardenas, the school’s program director.
“From the beginners all the way up to the advanced students, they were all very enthusiastic about what they learned in the session,” she says.
Staying Strong and Pushing Through
Tahairy Bojorquez, an 11th grader at Del Sol Academy who has studied folklorico since sixth grade, says her biggest takeaway was the importance of regular body conditioning for a professional dancer.
“Carlos and Ariana taught us that you have to keep your energy up all the time, even when you feel tired,” says Bojorquez, who aspires to become a professional dancer one day.
Gonzalez believes the master class gave her students a true understanding of this rigorous artform.
“My students think running a mile is hard, but now they realize that this doesn’t even come close to what a professional dancer endures on a daily, weekly or yearly basis,” she says.
Del Sol Academy 12th grader Angel Lopez, also an aspiring professional dancer, appreciated the visitors’ frank discussion about the demands of a career as a professional dancer.
“There is a lot that goes into becoming and being a professional dancer, and it’s not always easy,” says Lopez.
Carlos and Ariana shared honest advice about all requirements for dancers to even be considered or allowed to audition for their company, Gonzalez says. They also discussed how grueling the routine of touring in an ensemble can be.
“This might intimidate some aspiring dancers, but having this hands-on instruction truly inspired my students to think about working even harder to perform to the best of their ability,” she says.
Learning and Growing Together
Villalobos-Cardenas says her students’ participation in the Ballet Folklorico master class was more than just about learning dances and steps.
“The experience gave the students a taste of Mexico’s cultural diversity,” she says. “In turn, this helps to grow the students as a community and invest in each other as dancers.”
Gonzalez also lauds how the master class emphasized staying continually focused on a goal, which further applies to students’ academic studies.
“I am beyond grateful that our school was selected for such an amazing opportunity,” she says.
To learn more about The Smith Center’s Education and Outreach programs, click HERE.