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[crowds cheering]

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♪♪

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-I love the footwork.

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I love the music.

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I love the skirt work.

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♪♪

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-What I feel is I kind
of forget everything

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that's going on outside
of dance, just everything

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else and in that moment I'm just
focused on what I'm doing and

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most importantly
just having fun.

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♪♪

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-The community that it
creates is so incredibly

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special because we're
trying to produce something

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so incredibly beautiful and
we're rooted in this one

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common culture that we have.

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♪♪

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-Hearing the lively music, the
drums, the trumpets, the guitars...

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♪♪

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the trumpets, the guitars

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all together and performing
to that, and doing the steps.

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I like it because it's
where I can be myself.

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♪♪

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- One, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight.

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- Normally when we
do a show this big...

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Let's try it.

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We start preparing.

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♪ rhythmic tap dancing ♪

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During probably a year
and a half before...

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♪ rhythmic tap dancing ♪

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I started dancing folklorico
when I was five years old.

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It was at my elementary
school, Concord in South Park.

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And we had a teacher
there that saw a small

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group of Hispanic kids
and she wanted to do

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something for them.

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And so she decided to
start a dance group.

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And she actually brought
someone from Bronce

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to come help teach.

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♪♪

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I think what drew me
in was the skirt.

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- You know, as a kid, I think
costuming and the music

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makes you fall in
love really quickly.

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When you grow up in
a space, I think,

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as white as Seattle,
as the Northwest,

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especially back in the '90s,
making sure that again we

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were rooted in our culture
was, I think my mother

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understood the wisdom in them.

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♪♪

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-I started dancing back in
Mexico because it's required

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in the elementary school,
but then I moved to the

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US and in Bellevue there
was nothing for Latinos.

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♪♪

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After high school, I saw
my cousin dancing because

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he kept inviting us.

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He was actually a member
of Bailadores de Bronce.

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-Well, I went to the university
and I started in 1976.

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I was not there initially
when it started, but it was

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pretty close to the beginning.

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There was a class.

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♪♪

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We were dancing in Meany Hall
in the Ethnic Cultural Theater

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at the University of Washington.

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It's a small little theater, but
we were happy to fill it up.

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♪♪

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Now when they perform, there's
eight couples and all that.

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We are lucky to
have three couples.

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♪♪

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'Cause it was a small group,

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and just little by little,
you know, we grew.

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- We perform all over.

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We've performed Mariners,
the Sounders game.

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We've done weddings,
we do festivals,

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We do, you know, community
cultural gatherings.

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♪ rhythmic tap dancing ♪

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What's gonna happen is
the music will start,

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the Nuevo Leon will
end, the band...

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♪♪ 

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-Over the years we have done
more theater performances.

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-Any time I get to dance
particularly for my community

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is really, really special.

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[grito call]

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During times when we were
told where stereotypes are

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kind of flying our way,
especially with the youth

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that I teach, being able to
ground them in the truth

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that where they come
from is beautiful.

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For me, that's what
folklorico does.

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It gives me community, but it
also grounds me in the beauty

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of my culture, so that when I'm
faced with things like that,

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I cannot be lied to, because
I know the truth of where

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it came from.

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-The one thing that a lot of our
audience says is, “thank you

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for bringing a piece
of home to us.”

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-Seeing the energy that
we bring to the stage is

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what they take with them.

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-I think when people see you on
a stage like that, when they

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see that the theater is full,
and they just feel home.

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-Not just people that come
from Mexico, but for those

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that never got to experience.

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-I would say everybody likes to
see folkloric dances because it

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brings out different cultures.

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-Every state in Mexico
has a different style,

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different music, different
footwork, different

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costuming that represents and
tells a story of that state.

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-In the northern states we have
influence from German, Austrian

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instruments and music
styles like polkas.

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And then in the
south, like Jalisco,

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we have a lot of the French
and Spanish mixture.

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And even in the southern
states, we have a lot of the

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higher class Spanish.

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And there is Afro descendants.

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All the mix of culture
and races and everything,

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it just made it more rich.

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It's a big blend.

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♪♪

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-Our dancers range
from 14 and up.

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♪ ♪ 

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-When I first started dancing
with Hojas Mestizas,

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and I transitioned into
Bronce, and then started

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performing at 14.

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♪♪

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Getting to share the
stage with my family,

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you have to try and soak
up every moment of it.

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♪♪

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-Time flies when you're dancing.

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Is the music starts and
all of a sudden it's done.

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And you just remember
interacting with

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your fellow dancers.

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-You can see on their
smile and the applause.

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It's a joyful event
for everybody.

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-I think it's important that
we continue that and that

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we continue to supporting

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that youth, supporting
these programs is crucial.

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-I'm just always lucky and I
think after each show when we do

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our bows, that's 
when it really hits.

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We are able to still connect

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with our culture and do these
dances that have been done for

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hundreds of years is beautiful.

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-It is just pure joy.

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[crowd loudly cheers 
and applauds]

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♪ ♪ 

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-Watch CityStream Tuesday
nights at 7 on the Seattle Channel,

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or find us anytime online 
at SeattleChannel.org.

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♪ ♪