Alexander Manzanares, a son of Mexican immigrants from the state of Chihuahua, was born in Dodge City, Kansas and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As a teenager his love for dance began with his high school folklórico dance group. Upon graduation, he dedicated his time attending festivals, conferences and focusing his attention on traveling across Mexico, visiting maestros in their homes and learning folklórico at its roots.

He has been an active member of the folklórico community in New Mexico for 19 years. After dancing with Baila! Baila! Dance Company and as a guest dancer for Ballet Folklórico Paso del Norte for several years, he realized that dance was his life path and that his real passion was in teaching. He began elementary, high school and university level folklórico programs including the award winning Ballet Folklórico Lumbre at the University of New Mexico; where for seven years, he served as both general and artistic director for the program. For the past four years, Alexander has served as Santa Fe coordinator and instructor for the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet Folklórico program, working with children in the Santa Fe public school system.

At DUF 2016

Maestro Alexander will be teaching Repertorio: Baja California, Queretaro, Veracruz. This is a class for 6th grade students at the advanced level; ages 11-12.