Sparks fly as machetes clash. Two rival ranchers battle over a young Indian girl during her wedding celebration. Eventually the rival rancher who disturbed the wedding meets his death.
This scene, which could be a finale to a movie, took place in the “Wedding in the Huasteca,” one of the 10 dances performed by Ballet Folklorico de Mexico on Friday night at the Kelley Theater in the Quick Center. The theater was almost nearaly full, with around 740 town residents, professors and a few students.
With vivid colors and elaborate dancing, it was easy for the audience to see why the group has received over 200 awards. The audience was whistfully transported to a town in Mexico in the 1900s, where romance and fables come to life.
Complete with 10 mariachi musicians lining the side of the stage, it quickly began to feel like a fiesta.
Traditional ballet is seen as a silent venture with dancers barely touching the ground and the audience in awe, but Ballet Folklorico is very different. In tap dancing, the dancers’ feet hit the ground, lending perfect rhythm to the music. Some audience members even began to call out to the dancers as if they were at a rock concert.
Ballet Folklorico dancers said they enjoy audience participation. Carlos, one of the group’s artistic coordinators, spoke to The Mirror after the show.
“It is really the most important part of the show to be able to get the audience involved – like tonight – for the company to really feel the reciprocal energy on both sides,” he said.
Ballet Folklorico is the most prominent Mexican group spreading culture throughout the world, with dance routines that reflect a variety of Mexican traditions and history.
One of the dances, “Tlacotalpan Festivity,” featuring huge masks, celebrates the Candelaria Virgin that takes places in the town of Tlacotalpan. The masks symbolize different stereotypes such as the clown, the angel, the devil and the moor.
The appreciation of Mexican culture has become increasingly important as xenophobia has begun to rise in America. It is essential for Americans to see beyond the media stereotypes to the real culture and the people.
One female dancer said, “In a political sense there is pressure on a show like this for, momentarily or for the duration of the show, it relaxes that tension on both sides for us as Mexicans and Mexican Americans to come and share this with Americans, and for Americans to take part in who we are.”
“It really breaks all the tension. Art is incredible because it really breaks all barriers, cultural barriers,” she said.
She added that easing the tension between different cultures is the most rewarding part of her job, describing dancing as “a more passionate way of expressing their patriotism.”
“It has impacted me to see immigrant families who come to the shows. Sometimes the tickets are really expensive and they bring their families, their nieces and nephews,” she said. “It’s great to see people from Mexico in the audience crying from joy because they miss their culture and the warm compassion.”
For a brief moment in time, Ballet Folklorico melted away the border between Mexico and America. It took the audience to a place that was no longer about differences, but about our similar yearnings for passion, love and family.
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