May 1, 2010

2:00 p.m.

Ballet Folklórico de Aztlán’s (BFA) high-energy performances often involve twirling skirts and snappy footwork. Dancers may wear rattles on their hands and candles on their heads, all the while flirting with their partners and with the audience.

“When we perform for other people who are familiar with the dance, there’s a lot of audience interaction, like yelling and chanting,” says former co-director, Marisol Ramirez ’10.

BFA, which was founded in 1961 by undergraduates to celebrate Mexican heritage through traditional dance, is one of the oldest cultural groups on campus. The group performs dances from across Mexico, although they mainly focus on pieces from the state of Jalisco.

Although they won’t be wearing candles in their Arts First performance in Lowell Lecture Hall this Saturday, BFA aims to introduce a lesser-known tradition to the Harvard campus. Former co-director Alejandra Beristain-Barajas ’10 says, “A lot of times we stick with Jalisco because we know it’s a crowd pleaser. People know the Mexican Hat Dance, but we’re trying to show other regions that haven’t been showcased as often.” One such energetic piece, “Zacatecano,” features men in tight charro suits and women in full skirts. It originates from the state of Zacatecas.

BFA thrives off its cultural value, which it believes instructs and entertains its audiences. “It’s not just a dance,” Beristain-Berajas says. “It’s a skit and a way of preserving culture and showing it to younger generations.”

Many members joined as inexperienced dancers who were simply eager to experience one form of Mexican culture. However, BFA’s Arts First performance combines the group’s cultural and artistic merit. “We’re usually considered a cultural organization, and this time we’re considered an art. We’re considered something that’s providing to the arts—the visual arts, the performing arts,” Ramirez says.

Though the Arts First audience will comprise a different crowd than BFA’s usual one—which normally consists of members of Harvard’s or Boston’s Latino community—current co-director Maricruz Rodriguez ’12 is excited for the opportunity to introduce BFA to a new group of spectators. “One of the reasons why people should come specifically to Arts First is because you’re exposed to a lot of different performance arts groups you don’t usually see,” Rodriguez says. “We know it’s a new audience for us, and it’s a really unique experience for them.”

—Staff writer Candace I. Munroe can be reached at cimunroe@fas.harvard.edu.