Danzantes Unidos Festival (DUF) 2015 “Reconquistando el pueblo con danza y cancion” will take place on March 27-29 in Fresno, CA. While we anxiously await the launch of our new website and the opening of registration, we are very proud and pleased to announce the DUF 2015 Class Offerings. Please use this list as a guide in selecting your classes and bear in mind that it may be subject to change.

DUF 2015 will offer movement sessions divided by age and level. Specialty classes are listed first:

Folklorico Fun: Parent & Me (Pre-K) – Irvind Garcia

This course is an introduction to Mexican folk dance movement and music. Coupled with hands-on arts activities, this class will take children (and their parents) on a musical dance journey. Along the way, they will be exposed to different musical rhythms, be introduced to imitative dance movements, and practice their school-readiness skills. The class will culminate with a presentation to open the DUF Class Recital on Sunday.

Folklorico 101 (Teens & Adults) – Rose Olais Pantoja

This class is for teens and adults, with zero or less than two years experience. The class will focus on the breakdown of steps that students might be struggling with in their community, high school or college groups. Educators and young directors of beginning level adults may find this class helpful in their quest to learn how to teach and reach as many potential students for their groups as they can.

Latin Rhythms (Teens & Adults) – Franco Peraza

This high-energy class will introduce Latin dances including salsa, bachata and merengue. Students will learn the basics of these dances including timing, partnering, footwork and styling. This class will also incorporate dance techniques that students can apply to their folklorico training and performance as well as social dancing.

Movimiento Liberal (Teens & Adults) – Blanca Soto

Material in this class will include original choreographies by Blanca Soto–1862 Movimiento Liberal de la Mujer Chinaca & 1925-1960 Movimiento Nacionalista–two important and pivotal times in Mexican history. This method of delivering history through dance will give participants a new perspective on how to present their work as ‘edutainment’.

Partner Styling Across Regions (Teens & Adults) – Rudy Garcia

While we tend to think of footwork and costumes when we think of folklorico, there are fundamental rules that define the interactions between men and women executing these dances and hence define the style that should accompany their performance. In this class, we will learn some of these styles and the social rules that drive them. Without knowledge of these styles, the dance becomes an entertainment rather than cultural performance.  This class will cover multiple regions.

Repertorio – Levels I to IX: Students Grades K-8

Elementary & middle school students are divided by grade school levels into 19 classes at nine levels known as “Repertorio”. Our instructors have prepared their material with maturity levels in mind and we will honor their requests to transfer out students who do not meet the criteria. OJO parents/directors, please be honest about students ages. YOU – the early registrants, will determine the regions covered for each level. The class will become what the majority of students at each grade level request (by 2/28) as their top choices. Instructors for the Repertorio classes will prepare a dance from each of the three regions, plus a bonus region for classes that move along quickly. The region choices for Repertorio levels are:  Baja California, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacan, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Sinaloa, Tabasco, Tamaulipas Norte, Veracruz & Yucatan.

Maestros for Repertorio classes are listed below.  Sorry, you don’t pick them; you pick your regions and we will assign the Maestros to the different levels.

• Mark Alatorre
• Gabriel Avila
• Yolanda Beniquez
• Oscar Bustos
• Ana Bustos Ponce
• Maria Cerda
• Maria de Lourdes Romero
• Gustavo Dominguez
• Karina Estrella
• Irvind Garcia
• Irene Hernandez
• Alicia Mendibles
• Alejandro Rey Mendibles
• Francisco Salinas
• Christopher Sandoval
• Denise Valdez
• Teresa Velez
• Mayra Villalobos
• Manny Vizcarra

Folklorico High: Students Grades 9-12 (Bring your Student ID)

A new program within the project of the Danzantes Unidos Festival was created to address the growing population of teen and young adult participation attending the Danzantes Unidos Festival. DUF 2015 is proud to introduce “Folklorico High” with workshops offering varied repertoire with two regions per class; distinguishing differences between regions (history, geography, styling, music); and a forum for interaction and networking with peers. Folklorico High registrants will have access to Danzantes Unidos finest faculty in the following sections:

Folklorico 101 – Rosemarie Olais-Pantoja
Latin Rhythms – Franco Peraza
Movimiento Liberal – Blanca Soto
Partner Styling Across Regions – Rudy Garcia
Azteca Dance & Drumming – David Vargas
Veracruz Fandango – Alfredo Herrera
Folklorico High: Chiapas/Costa de Guerrero – Ramon Silva
Folklorico High: Yucatan/Huasteca Potosina – Sergio Sartiaguin
Folklorico High: Jalisco/Chiapas – Ana Valle Vasquez
Folklorico High: Nuevo Leon/Zacatecas – Jose Tena
Folklorico High: Baja California Norte/Guerrero Tierra Caliente – Karlen Cordero
Folklorico High: Sinaloa/Veracruz – Julio Flores
Folklorico High: Tamaulipas Norte/Linares – Miguel Ponce
Folklorico High: Sonora Bronco/Nayarit – Martin Corella Fierro

Adult Classes: Ages 18 and over (Bring your California ID)

Adult classes are open to ages 18 and over. Students in these classes will focus on dances from one particular region, as well as proper regional style and form.

Folklorico 101 – Rosemarie Olais-Pantoja
Latin Rhythms – Franco Peraza
Movimiento Liberal – Blanca Soto
Partner Styling Across Regions – Rudy Garcia
Aguascalientes – Rafael Valpuesta
Azteca Dance & Drumming – David Vargas
Baja California Sur – Juan Gil Martinez Tadeo
Chihuahua – Eleazar Rodarte
Coahuila – Cesar Orta
Durango – Erik Diaz
Jalisco – Zenon Barron
Michoacan – Nino Carrillo
Nuevo Leon – Juan Santana
Oaxaca – Jenny Robles
Quintana Roo – Marco Sanchez
Sonora Bronco – Luis Oceguera
Tabasco – Netza Vidal
Tamaulipas Huasteco – Maria Guadalupe Castro Paramo
Veracruz Fandango – Alfredo Herrera
Veracruz Huasteco – Omar Quezada
Veracruz Teatral – Cecilio DeCastro
Yucatan – Carlos Santoyo
Zacatecas – Jose Vences

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