Ballet Folklorico keeps traditional Mexican dance alive while continuing to act as a form of resistance to cultural erasure and political strife.
The club started in the late 80s with a group of students coming together to practice the art form. The club’s Artistic Director Gustavo Sandoval joined because his father was a part of the club in the late 90s.
The dance itself is one that involves both men and women wearing special shoes made of leather and wood with nails attached to the bottom. This creates the famous sounds that are associated with the dance form along with long billowing skirts and sleek suits that dancers sport.
Like the name suggests each of the dances tells a story as Rosemaria Ramirez, Vice President of the club explains, “Most of the songs are about stories like the famous ones, like Son de La Negra, Jarabe Tapatio. They’ve been around for hundreds of years … To this day, a lot of them are forms of resistance. Like, we have revolution dances for the history of Mexico and others are just fun.”
Sandoval described the art forms deeply Indigenous roots that make it unique to the country of Mexico: “You also have the Indigenous parts as well, where they’re more connected to the culture of Mexico, like us, you have Azteca, which is a part of local. Then some states of their own have indigenous dances.”
There are different styles and forms with each state such as Sinaloa which practices older styles, such as Mestizo, and more modern variations, such as Sinaloa Costa.
In regards to resistance at UCR, Sandoval emphasized the club’s goal to show that the Latin community is here at UCR and had been for a very long time.
The club is currently preparing for their showcase at the University Theatre on May 21. Fall and winter quarter are dedicated to teaching club members who are just joining the club and cementing the basics, whereas spring quarter is spent practicing the choreographed routines. The team of about 22-24 people will be showcasing three different dance styles, Veracruz, Oaxaca and Jalisco. These practices focus on routine, cohesion and stamina with different styles being practiced on different days of the week.
Ramirez said her favorite dance is from Zacatecas, her home state, and noted that each quarter the club highlights a different region. She described Veracruz dances as elegant and flirtatious, pointing to El Canelo where a “man’s trying to get the woman’s attention,” but the woman remains unbothered and dismisses him by smacking them with a fan.
In regards to some of the struggles the club has faced in recent years, club president Daniela Rivera showed how much of that had to do with the club’s history itself, “I’ve actually been in this club since my first year, and this club kind of disbanded because of COVID-19. Before, there was a professor we had, so it wasn’t more of a club [but] was more of a class type of thing.”
She explained that Dr. Xochitl Chavez helped revive the club by providing a practice room, uniforms and more to help the tradition stay alive in club form.
Rivera explained that her goal for the club is to share and celebrate Mexican culture while building community, calling it a “really great club” that has given her a space to express her identity and find friends. As president, she hopes it continues to show that “Hispanic culture is alive” and remains a welcoming place where students can “come in and breathe” and feel supported.
