Cal State Monterey Bay (CSUMB) opened a workshop in September 2022, in collaboration with Gilroy-based group Folklórico Manos. Organizers remember an overwhelmingly positive response, which led to the idea to create a folklórico dance club.
As part of the Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Week celebrations, the MAESTROs (Making Accessible and Effective Systems for Teacher Readiness Outcomes) project offered a workshop that shared the cultural history of folklórico dance, taught several traditional dance routines and gave a lively performance. The student response was positive and passionate, leading to the creation of the CSUMB club Folklórico de Monterey Bay during the spring of 2024.
“The mission of Folklórico de Monterey Bay is to provide a space for students to expand, understand and cultivate Latin American culture through folklórico dance,” said Margaret Dominguez, club advisor and staff of the College of Education.
Student Instructor Priscila Barcamontes, uses her performing arts training to enrich, inspire and transform the lives of students who are dedicated and passionate about their craft. Sanchez teaches dances from diverse Mexican states such as Jalisco, Sinaloa, Chiapas, Veracruz and Chihuahua.
“For me [folklórico] represents my heritage, and represents my culture,” said Alicia Daniel, a sophomore undergraduate student and member of Folklórico de Monterey Bay. “I think students can represent themselves by dancing as a way to express themselves. It’s a way to exercise and get out everything bad that you have in your head.”
Karen Tlaxcalteco-Alarcon, first-year student and club member, claims the uniqueness of Folklórico de Monterey Bay is within its members.
“People are very important. My classmates made me like it more, because everybody has a brightness that makes it more emotional,” said Alarcon.
Regardless of the positive response from students, one of the challenges the club faces is the sustainability of student membership as well as the recruitment of leaders who continue the cultural legacy of the club. Despite these challenges, club members persist.
With five officers, and the current leadership of club president Rami Elenes Mitchell, a senior undergraduate student, the club remains active, with weekly practices on Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m. The team also participates in campus outreach events during Dia de los Muertos events, but also throughout the year on-campus and for the surrounding community.
Mitchell believes that what makes Folklórico de Monterey Bay a unique experience is its union of students, their diversity of different backgrounds and abilities and its being a family-friendly environment.
“We welcome everybody to all our practices, all backgrounds, all abilities. We welcome you, we teach you, we are not strict and we try to make it family grounded,” said Mitchell.
For Mitchell, performing folklórico is more than just that. “I get to share my culture with everybody, a lot of people don’t know too much about Mexico. A lot of people have negative connotations with the country just because of the American media and the whole crisis, and I want to share that my country isn’t scary – that my country is beautiful,” said Mitchell.