[MONIQUE MICHEL] We are the Ballet Folklórico México Lindo!

{”LA NEGRA” CRESCENDOS} When we come out to perform, we are doing so much more than just wearing a dress and dancing at this event.

We are literally representing the culture for people who may or may not know what Mexican dance is.

{SONG CONCLUDES} {THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE} {ANNOUNCER THANKS IN SPANISH} [MONIQUE MICHEL] My name is Monique Michel.

I am the artistic director of the Ballet Folklórico México Lindo, which is my dance company.

Then we have our five “zapateado” which is here, one..

The word “ballet folklórico” literally--just, “ballet,” meaning we have ballet as a base, “folklórico” just means folk dance.

“Lindo” means beautiful.

{COUNTING, MARIACHI MUSIC, FOOTSTEPS} I was born and raised in Los Angeles and I started dancing out there at the age of six.

I stayed with my dancing all through high school, all through college, and we performed all over and it was beautiful.

And I realized that within my dance company, I had found my community.

Here in Idaho, I really wanted to recreate that sense of community.

And I'd like to say that I have.

{LAUGHS} I started my company in 2003 in Nampa and I started with four students.

And, since then, I've grown and I now have 50 dancers.

{RHYTHMIC FOOTSTEPS} The way I teach is how it was taught to me.

And the dances are the same that when I did when I was a child, when I was a teen.

They are literally passed down from one to the other.

{RHYTHMIC FOOTSTEPS} {SONG CONCLUDES, LAUGHTER} Sometimes people don't even know what Mexican dance is.

And they're like, “Is it salsa?” And I'm like, “No.” {LAUGHS} “Is it flamenco?” “No.” {LAUGHS} {FOLKLORICO MUSIC SWELLS} We are storytellers.

It is folk dancing.

And folklore is exactly that.

It's stories.

And they are passed down from one to the other.

We have stories usually about love or requited love or lost love.

We have stories about animals, about birds, we have accessories, and we tell stories, in this case, with our bodies.

It's evident in the movements of, you know, the hands or the feet or the placement of the, you know, the shoulders or looking over or the posture, the movements of the skirts.

So, very much, it's very physical.

{REHEARSING} Five, six, seven, eight.

Perfect.

And skirts, I want you to catch the skirts.

That's the most important thing.

There's so much diversity within México.

The more you look, the more you find.

It's evident, you know, in the different styles of the dresses and maybe this one has puffy sleeves and this one has a long skirt or this one's tighter.

And all of that is intentional.

{MUSIC, CLAPPING} [DEVON GARCIA] A lot of people don't realize that Mexico has a lot of influences in it Like, we have African influences, we have a lot of European influences.

There's just, like, so many different parts to it, and I feel like representing it this way can let people see so much more of Mexico and what it's about.

I moved here originally from Arizona.

And in Arizona, we have a lot of Mexican culture there because we're very close to the border.

And so when I moved up here, there was like a lot of lack of that.

You know, I felt a little out of place.

But ever since coming to the group, I felt more, like, recognized.

I felt like more people understood me.

{RHYTHMIC FOOTSTEPS} [STEPHANIE HAAS-PEREZ] I'm from Cancún, México.

So, just being able to connect through the dance with my culture is just like something really special to me because it makes me feel close to home and like, I feel like sharing my culture is something that I love and I just enjoy doing that through dance.

[CHRISTINA CHAPMAN] It enriches the culture and it helps people understand our culture runs way more deeper than just one costume.

[MONIQUE] I want my dancers and our community and people that, that see us to know that México Lindo is so much more than, insert stereotype.

{LAUGHS} So much more than Day of the Dead, so much more than Cinco de Mayo.

We are literally representing the culture for people who may or may not know what Mexican dance is.

[KARLA CRUZ] We love coming together, showing off, showing off our talents, showing off that we are not just hat, dress, we are women; we are powerful.

If we get together, we can create something beautiful.

{REFLECTIVE GUITAR} [MONIQUE] Representation matters.

Representation is huge for me.

I want my dancers to see themselves in the arts personally, professionally, educationally.

I want them to know that who they are matters.

The arts are for everyone, and yet they belong to no one.

My thinking is, “You want to dance, I want to teach you.” Period.

I've had people come in and they're like, “Well, I'm not this” or “I'm that” or, you know, and I say, you know, “You need to leave that at the door.

You are welcome here.” As a teacher, you just never know where your influence is going to go.

And for me it's about making my students feel seen.

{HEARTFELT GUITAR} On the surface, this looks like a dance studio and we perform and we share and we learn and we laugh and we create memories.

What we do is we form community so that people can come authentically as themselves to share the beauty that Mexican culture is.

{HEARTFELT GUITAR} {MUSIC CONCLUDES}