DUF 2015 Updates and Thanks
DUF Early Registration Deadline is February 7 at 11:59pm
www.danzantes.org

Buenas noches and thank you to everyone that has already registered for DUF 2015! Your early dollars allow us to turn our attention to freebies and give-aways for EVERYONE. Your early registration also helps us plan a better DUF for YOU.

We have received 450+ workshop registrations and are well on our way to capacity for this year. [We pause here to thank all of our wonderful Maestros & Maestras and the many more which are on ‘standby’ should we go into overflow. Special thanks to our Maestro Wrangler, Jerry Fierro for all of his invested hours.] Please allow me to assure you that there is great care and planning to accommodate so many of our community. In order to make this a fabulous experience for everyone our average class size is limited to 25 participants.

We are fortunate to have access to two cafeterias, two gymnasiums and a weight room to allow for five of our more popular classes to go as high as 40 participants. [Here we pause to thank Maestro Julio Bustos and his group Aguilas de Oro de Clovis West High School. They will be installing and removing the wood dance floors from the carpeted classrooms under the guidance of Floor Master, Bryan Carrillo.] We have already identified three classes that FILLED UP quickly. We will move those classes to the larger rooms and allow them to grow to 40. They are:

Tabasco – Netza Vidal – added 10 spots 2/3/15
Folklorico High: Nuevo Leon/Zacatecas – Jose Tena – added 10 spots 2/6/15
Chihuahua – Eleazar Rodarte – added 10 spots 2/6/15

Two more classes will be identified by your registrations to take the larger spaces and then all the rest of the classes will be limited to 25 participants.

You may have already heard that the Saturday (evening) Showcase Concert filled within hours of the launch of our new website. We congratulate the first groups that entered that portal. Two days later, the Friday Showcase Concert filled up, followed by the Sunday Showcase Concert which just recently closed. All three concerts at Warnors Center for the Performing Arts are now full and closed. There are still a few spots in the Sunday Noon Concert at Clovis West High School. [Thank you’s are in order for our Showcase Concert Director, Juana Saludado and her right-hand, Francisca Saludado for staying on top of the deluge of applications. Thank you, Ladies!]

As you may have noticed, we have a new website. Consider it your new home. It will have a lot more bells whistles once we complete Phase II and Phase III in the coming months. In the meantime, please feel free to poke around and check out what’s new and what’s coming. [We thank all of our contributing Website Team headed by our Marketing Director, Sabrina Valles and our web designers WebDogs for the great, many hours already invested and the many more to come.  Extra Special Thanks are due to ACTA – Alliance for California Traditional Arts and the Community Leadership Project funded by David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.]

The difference in this year’s registration process is that you are first required to purchase the ‘ticket’ for your class before you are asked for your personal information. A reminder will be sent to everyone that has purchased a class and has not entered their name! We kind of need that for your badge. To do this, simply go to your receipt and click on ‘edit participant info’. Alternatively, you can go to our website and click on upper right hand side “Log in” and enter your username and password. If you do not remember your user name and password, please go back to your receipt and hit “reply” and request that information. In any case, this will all be sorted out by 2/28. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we all grow together. [Thank you to all the group directors that have successfully registered their entire groups through this process and thank you to the many schools that contacted us early to use the Purchase Order option by the January 31 deadline.]

Part of our quest in providing an exceptional experience is to not lump together all age groups and skill levels.  It is truly what sets Danzantes Unidos apart from any other event.  In order to accomplish this, we have set very specific limits by age and skill and class size.  The part which you can help us with is to please, please, please use care and caution when registering your young students. Please do not register them for classes designated for older youth and adults. ALL students ages middle-school and up will need to show their student ID or California ID to access the class they are registered for. Please do not request an exception for your exceptional 10 to 12 year-old that regularly performs with adults. We will have a special class for all exceptional students where they will be grouped with other equally exceptional students and an outstanding Maestro or Maestra to guide them. This is truly their time to shine and network with their peers. The purpose of the festival is not merely to provide a workshop experience, but to instill in each student a sense of pride in self and the place they own within the community. Thank you for your cooperation. [Thank you to Parents and Chaperones of attending students. Thank you for making the ‘passing of cultura’ a priority in the lives of your children. Thank you for the sacrifices and the time invested in planning the trip to Fresno. We look forward to rewarding you with new and interesting activities in your free time. Stay tuned.]

There will be more updates in the coming weeks, but for now simply . . .

Buenas Noches y Gracias.

–Maria Luisa Colmenarez for DUF 2015