91¶ÌÊÓƵ

Heritage & Belonging

Ballet Folklórico is a home, and its members like family.

Jessica Kokesh, Marketing & Communications

The setting November sun streamed through the windows of the upper floor of The Monarch, backlighting the members of 91¶ÌÊÓƵ’s Ballet Folklórico as they put finishing touches on their traditional attire and makeup for the night’s performance.

Leticia Mata, her face painted white and dotted with multicolor jewels in the traditional Catrina design, stood patiently as another dancer adjusted her floral hair piece while others smoothed their layers of skirts and shawls.

Hundreds had gathered for Ogden’s Día de Los Muertos celebration, filing into rows of white chairs to watch the dancers and musical performances from Mexican artists for the night. Just before Ballet Folklórico’s performance began, advisor Mónica Rodríguez Mesa gathered the dancers in a circle and declared, “We’re going to be great!” And they were.

Since 2014, Ballet Folklórico has been a place where Hispanic, Latino and Latinx students students can find themselves at Weber State. The ballet, which performs multiple times per year on campus, in the Ogden community and in Salt Lake City, aims to help students develop leadership skills through mentorship, academic excellence and retaining a strong cultural identity.

“I feel like it’s a place where you feel more close to home,” said Mata, a senior applying for the nursing program at Weber State. “It helps us connect more to what our culture is and who we are and where we come from. I really love the people and what we do.”

Mata has been a part of the ballet for 13 years, initially joining when it was an initiative at the junior high level, and is now a leader of the group at 91¶ÌÊÓƵ. Mata was born in Mexico and remembers watching folk dances there during local holidays and festivals before her family immigrated to Ogden.

“I was never able to perform, so having the opportunity to do it here and teach others is great, because I can connect back to my country and where I was born and my early childhood,” she said.

91¶ÌÊÓƵ Ballet Folklórico meets twice a week to practice at the Shepherd Union Wildcat Theater throughout the school year and in the summer months.

It started as a student group at Mount Ogden Junior High School, and students in that original group later brought it to Ogden High School, and then on to Weber State. Irimelva Najera Reyes, who has taught Mexican folklore dancing to the Ogden community for 20 years, instructs the 91¶ÌÊÓƵBF in aspects of dance while Rodríguez Mesa serves as staff coordinator and advisor. The ballet has been financially supported for the last five years by the Alan E. and Jeanne N. Hall Endowment for Community Outreach and the Center for Multicultural Excellence.

The ballet primarily focuses on Mexican dance, but they’ve also performed numbers from other Latin American countries.

“There’s the belonging — the need of discovering your heritage, to connect with your roots, especially for those Hispanic, Latino or Latinx students that are born in America — that have somehow been removed from their culture because of political and socioeconomic factors,” Rodríguez Mesa said. “When they come, they discover that there is more to it than a dance.”

Students’ curiosity is often sparked by the ballet’s public performances. Guadalupe Garcia, a senior graphic design major at 91¶ÌÊÓƵ and ballet leader, was drawn to the ballet after seeing them perform while she was in high school.

“I was like ‘Oh, that’s so pretty. I didn’t know they had that at Weber,’” Garcia said. “So, I made it my mission to find out where they were and where they practiced. Thanks to that, I got to know Mónica and everyone else. I see them more as family and friends, and the organization as a safe space.”

Aside from dancing, 91¶ÌÊÓƵBF’s primary goal is to serve as a space to help members develop their academic and professional skills. Many of the dancers are first-generation students, so it also serves as a way to network and learn the ins and outs of going to college, like asking advice about classes or financial support through scholarships.

“It’s really hard, your first semester as a first-generation student, because you don’t know what you’re doing,” Garcia said. “You’re just kind of floating around, trying to pass your classes, so once I found the ballet, I really found a place where I can be myself.”

Both Garcia and Mata said they’ve learned how to work as a team, developed communication skills, and improved their self-confidence as leaders in the ballet.

“I was a pretty shy, quiet person [before the ballet],” said Mata, who gained the confidence to speak her mind, joke with friends and encourage others to throw off the fear to perform. “There’s so many skills that we learn… things we’re going to be using long term in our careers and just in our daily life.”

Rodríguez Mesa’s voice caught and she became teary when she discussed seeing the success of 91¶ÌÊÓƵBF students over the years, especially those students who were battling depression or experiencing personal struggles.

“To see that persistence year after year, in accomplishing a degree that they thought was impossible for them and their families… and then they say to you, ‘I never realized I had a brilliant future in front of me,’” she said. “They absolutely empower themselves.”

91¶ÌÊÓƵBF is always open to new members and no prior dancing experience is required. Non-91¶ÌÊÓƵ members are also welcome to join the ballet.