Ballet Folklorico, also known as “Baile Folklorico,” which translates to “Folkloric Dance” in Spanish, is a blend of the characteristics of ballet and traditional cultural dances from different regions of Mexico.
Victoria ISD has offered Ballet Folklorico as a program to students for more than 22 years. Director and Teacher of VISD Ballet Folklorico Elsa Pina has been able to evolve the program since she took over in Fall 2001. “They had it for 2 years before I came in and it was in the very, very early stages,” said Pina. “The program has grown in a variety of ways. When I started with the program there were a very small amount of costumes. The Jalisco [dance style and costume] is more colorful, which is how it is in Mexico, but they had geared it towards the color of the school. So I asked permission if I had to keep it that way because I wanted to show, historically, the culture of Mexico and their costuming when we performed.”
After Pina took the reins of the program in 2001, VISD Ballet Folklorico has been able to expand their collection further with more regional dresses of Mexico, allowing them to properly pay homage to the cultural significance of the different dances that they perform. “Slowly but surely, we began to add dresses,” said Pina. “We’ve been able to add to our repertoire costumes for about 21 of the 31 states in Mexico.”
With the recent addition of dresses from the Mexican state of Sinaloa, their collection continues to grow. Ballet Folklorico dresses from Sinaloa are characterized by the calico print ruffles within their layers. Because of the warm, tropical climate of Sinaloa, the dresses do not have sleeves and have ruffles on the top of the dress to allow for coolness. Floral headpieces and hats worn to the side are also sometimes paired with the dresses to help shade dancers from the sun. “There are reasons behind a lot of it,” said Pina. “They’re very colorful to help represent the various colors of the foliage and the beautiful area and culture of Mexico.”
Acquiring more dresses from more states of Mexico also means that VISD Ballet Folklorico is able to perform more of the regional dances. “We have been able to slowly add dances,” said Pina. “That’s actually very difficult because in Mexico you have regional areas. You have the northern region, the southern region, and the central region, and many times, per state, each region has a different costume and there may be a slight difference in the sound of what music is played for it. There’s also a difference in the footwork that they use for each part of the regional area. The state of Oaxaca, they have over 30 costumes alone just in that state.”
VISD Ballet Folklorico performs at 1 to 3 pep rallies a year. They also sometimes dance at local celebrations within the community that highlight Hispanic culture. “Now we’re seeing the Latin culture doing a lot more in the community and we’re getting asked to do a bit more, and that’s great,” said Pina. They’ve also performed outside of Victoria, traveling to Austin to dance at the State Capitol for Arts Advocacy Week and to San Antonio to perform at the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) Conference. They also travel to competitions and have performed at birthday parties, weddings, graduations, and more. “It just depends on if we can, based on our testing schedule,” said Pina, “and if it falls at a time that isn’t where I’m asking too many hours of the students because we try to limit our hours of practice.”
They also have a fall showcase and a spring showcase each year. Ballet Folklorico’s 2022 Fall Show will be on Friday, November 18, 2022, and will be held at the Victoria East High School Auditorium. Tickets will be sold at the door for $7 and military and first responders receive free entrance.
If you’d like to book VISD Ballet Folklorico for an event, email elsa.pina@visd.net or call Victoria East High School. VISD Ballet Folklorico also accepts donations as often as possible to help fund the program.