2024 Day of Giving

Bringing Color to SCU through Mexican Folkloric Dance

Ballet Folklórico is a cultural organization within Santa Clara University dedicated to creating an art-based sanctuary space that supports Latinx peers and changes our stereotyped narrative on campus. Through Mexican folkloric dance, we proudly keep our roots alive and help students feel more connected to what makes them who they are. We perform around campus and the local area throughout the school year, ensuring that Santa Clara students can learn from and express the richness of our heritage through dance. Many new members were inspired to join Ballet Folklórico because they felt like they would have a place to call home. Given that many of our dancers are first-generation college students, it is especially important to provide a safe space in a university setting that might be foreign and scary.

Ballet Folklórico was restarted on our campus in 2012 and has faced many hurdles since then. We have been working towards raising funds for new outfits. However, despite raising money for outfits through fundraisers and performances, we have a limited repertoire of outfits to dance with. In Ballet Folklórico, each region in Mexico has its traditional outfits. Hence, performing with one type of outfit for various regions is not culturally appropriate. Therefore, we have been unable to expand our dance repertoire because we do not want to go against our club's mission of ensuring our students feel seen. We would love to continue to spread our culture’s dance to the SCU community and represent Mexico authentically. We are requesting funds to support us in doing so. Thank you in advance for your generous donation! Also, feel free to stop by one or some of our performances this year! We're excited to grow even more this year with your gift!