UC Davis folklórico troupe Danzantes del Alma prepares for their 47th annual show

Taking place on April 25, the upcoming performance will be a culmination of community and culture

UC Davis’ student folklórico troupe, Danzantes del Alma (DDA), will be holding their 47th annual show at 6 p.m. on April 25 at the Mondavi Center.

Established in 1977, DDA provides a way for students to learn and perform traditional dances of Mexico. Troupe members begin to practice for the annual showcase in fall quarter, and the months of preparation are a testament to their commitment and passion for their craft.

This year’s show is themed “Historias de mis Raíces,” which translates to “History of our Roots.”

Harry Ordiano, a third-year Chicana/Chicano studies and wildlife, fish and conservation biology double major, explained the meaning behind the chosen theme.

“We’re trying to tell the audience the story of our roots, our lineage and ancestry,” Ordiano said. “I want them to see how we portray our experience and understand who and where we are, especially because a lot of the audience can relate to our history. We’re portraying something that they could be a part of.”

DDA is housed under the Cross Cultural Center (CCC), and acceptance into the troupe is not based upon auditions or skill level. Rather, members are selected for the show each year through a lottery system.

“A lot of our dancers are at varying levels of skill, and many of them are new to dance and still learning the steps,” Ordiano said. “A lot of them are just beginning, but DDA is about more than just dancing.”

Notably, DDA provides its members with a grounded environment in which they can see parts of themselves reflected in others and feel represented by a wider community.

“What’s really amazing is its community and the friendships within it,” Ordiano said. “I made friends with people that I could relate to, and that was very special to me.”

Xitlali Rodriguez Tafoya, a fourth-year managerial economics major who has been dancing folklórico for nearly a decade, views her participation in DDA as a natural continuation of her previous experiences.

“It has been a really good way to make friends in the same environment that I grew up in,” Rodriguez Tafoya said. “Davis is a big school, and it’s hard to find friends that share the same cultural experiences that I have and grew up in similar ways as me.”

For some dancers, loved ones serve as meaningful sources of motivation to practice and dedication to folklórico and DDA. For example, Rodriguez Tafoya’s mentor was motivated to join DDA because her father danced at DDA during his college experience in the 1990s.

“My brother also danced in DDA when he lived in Davis, but he did not graduate because he was deployed in the military at 19,” Rodriguez Tafoya said. “He couldn’t continue the rest of his college career. That motivated me to join DDA, not for him, but in honor of him. ”

As the troupe prepares for their annual show, members also discussed the technical significance of learning the performance steps.

“You have to have a lot of patience with yourself and with others,” Rodriguez Tafoya said. “You have to mentally prepare yourself and understand that you may not learn everything super fast.”

Achieving a mindset characterized by empathy and mental clarity is a key component of a successful performance, both onstage and during the preparatory stages. Success requires every dancer to consider not just their own physical steps, but all parties involved — including the audience, as Rodriguez Tafoya explained.

“After you understand the sequences, the patterns and the skirt-work, you then have to understand that 40 other people are all doing that at the same time,” Rodriguez Tafoya said. “We all have to work with ourselves in order to work with each other, and then we have to make that look appealing to the audience.”

Though the process of preparing for the show can be stressful at times, that stress is alleviated when the focus turns to the reasons why it matters, according to Rodriguez Tafoya.

“You’re there because you’re happy to be there,” Rodriguez Tafoya said. “The intention is to have fun and keep our cultural practices alive. This is our 47th annual show, so it’s been 47 years of bringing our culture to life, every year.”

Jimena Arango, a third-year animal biology major, described the night of the show itself as a physical manifestation of DDA’s tight-knit bonds of community. Just as troupe members have been strengthening and developing their technical skills, they have also been strengthening and honing their connections with each other.

“Just talking to everyone, getting ready and getting dressed up, there are always a lot of things happening backstage,” Arango said. “There’s a little screen where we can see the dancers who are currently performing, and watching it reminds me that we’re all doing this together.”

Through their efforts onstage, dancers hope that this sense of unity will translate into their performance and become a valuable message taken away by audience members.

“The most important thing is to show the audience the emotions through our storytelling,” Rodriguez Tafoya said. “When we dance, we are not speaking with words, we are moving and speaking with our actions.”

The annual show expresses an expansive sense of belonging that is not to be taken lightly. It is achieved through months of hard work and dedication by the troupe members of Danzantes del Alma, driven by their belief in their craft and each other.

“I hope those watching us in the audience understand that they too can be a part of something like this,” Arango said. “This is a space on campus where people can come together and be a community through their shared experiences and culture.”

DDA’s annual showcase will be held at the Mondavi Center on April 25. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the performance begins at 6 p.m. with tickets now available on the Mondavi Center’s website. For those who are interested in joining DDA, recruitment begins at the start of fall quarter. More information can be found on their website.

Written by: Julie Huang — arts@theaggie.org