"We do have a large group of members with less experience in the theatrical world," she adds. "I have produced three plays with Black CAST, and I hadn't ever produced anything before I came to Harvard."

Faustino G. Ramos '96 says he values the different ages, ethnicities and experiences of Ballet Folklorico de Aztlan's members.

"We've got a total of 15 members. Among them are a couple of grad students, two alums, one members of the community, but we're primarily undergraduates," he says. "What I think is neat is that not everyone in the group is of Mexican descent. We've got a girl from Utah whose parents are both English."

"We come from such different backgrounds, but we have a common bond in that we love the music and we love dancing," he says. "This is my first opportunity to do something like this. I had no previous experience in dance, and now [after dancing with the company for two years] I'm directing it."

Ramos said that the Ballet provides a haven and a comfortable environment for students who might otherwise feel uneasy in the College setting.

"There's one woman from Tijuana in the group; she's a grad student at the School of Public Health, and she says coming to practice is like her escape valve," he says. "She can't express herself as freely or as openly [elsewhere] as she does when she's with the group."

"It's a different setting, very unique. We speak Spanish with each other," he adds.

Team Spirit

As any team athlete or actor knows, working together towards a single goal creates a very peculiar kind of bond, one not easily broken. While Ramos says shared ethnicity certainly reinforces this connection, he says the time spent rehearsing for performances makes his group especially tight-knit.

"I remember last year in May we either had a performance or a rehearsal every day for nine days straight. You get very close in situations like that," he says.

Perhaps the most important aspect of these groups is their relationship to the community at large. While drama and dance often separate performer from spectator, ethnic performing groups seem to bridge that gap.

"Most plays on campus tend to be just plays. In last year's play, 'The Trial,' we incorporated singing groups--Imani, and all women's a capella group, performed at the beginning of the show--and various students from the Afro-American community read poetry, so it was a real community effort," McCants says.

"The Black community is supportive, both financially and emotionally," she says. "You look out on opening night and see half of Kuumba in the audience."

Ramos' troupe actively seeks audiences beyond the ivy. Almost always, he says, audience members are both entertained and educated.

"We went to an elementary school in Wellesley. The kids loved it, "he recalls." It was neat to share this kind of dancing with kindergarteners and second graders who had never seen anything like it before."