Mexico's World-Renowned Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández Returns to Orange County
- Lola Olvera
- Mar 14
- 4 min read
Mexico’s most distinguished ballet folklórico company led intensive workshops with Relámpago del Cielo and Orange County School of the Arts students ahead of its Segerstrom Center performance.
A stunning swirl of 60 dancers and musicians will zapatear their way across the Segerstrom Hall stage at 7:30 p.m. March 22, as Mexico’s premier folk dance company, Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández, returns for a one-night only performance.
Founded in 1952 by dancer and choreographer Amalia Hernández, Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández has established itself as the premier folkloric dance ensemble not only in Mexico, but around the world. The troupe’s initial performance in 1952 brought it public recognition as a cultural representative in Mexico, and in 1959, its continuing success earned the company a permanent residence at the iconic Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. Since then, Ballet Folklórico de México has reached over 45 million spectators worldwide and has received countless awards and accolades.
Having the company in Orange County is “amazing,” according to Marlene Peña-Marin, director of the Ballet Folklórico Dance Conservatory at Orange County School of the Arts and artistic and general director of Relámpago del Cielo Grupo Folklórico, the oldest operating nonprofit institution of its kind within the region and the largest in the United States.
“It’s giving access for people here in Southern California to see them that may not necessarily have access to travel to Mexico City,” Peña-Marin said. “There are so many folklórico dancers here in Southern California, so to give these young dancers, who might see them on social media or YouTube, (an opportunity) to be able to see them live – it’s really inspiring.”
It has become a particularly special opportunity for her ballet folklórico students. After seeing the work that Peña-Marin was doing in bringing ballet folklórico to the community, the company personally reached out to her last January to partner with Relámpago and bring workshops to Santa Ana – and Peña-Marin was able to extend the company’s visit to include her OCSA students as well.
Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández performs its classic repertoire.
Photos courtesy of Segerstrom Center for the Arts
On Feb. 21-23, Relámpago students had the opportunity to participate in a three-day intensive workshop taught by Amalia Viviana Basanta Hernández, artistic director and daughter of the founder Amalia Hernandez, and on Feb. 24-25, Hernandez worked with the OSCA students.
Peña-Marin says the company was impressed with the students’ level of training.
“I felt like they were just being nice but they told me, no, no, no, what you're doing here and the level of technique that these dancers are receiving is incredible,” she said.
Through a collaboration with Segerstrom Center, her OCSA ballet folklórico students will also receive discounted tickets to see the performance, and with OCSA’s assistance, will be bussed in as a group to experience the dynamic, world-famous dances on the Segerstrom Hall stage.
“I want them to be so inspired that they go back into their communities and they share their knowledge,” Peña-Marin said.
The evening’s program will feature a variety of classics, including “Los Mayas,” a ballet based on several legends taken from the sacred books of Mayans – the Popol-Vuh and the Chilam Balam; “Tarima de Tixtla,” a cheerful choreography showcasing tapping technique and based on the original dances of the Guerrero state; and “La Danza del Venado,” an emblematic representation of the state of Sonora inspired by a traditional hunting ritual.
Amalia Hernández, a dancer, choreographer, and visionary pioneer, has more than 120 original choreographies to her name, all painting a vibrant portrait of Mexico’s beauty, diversity and rich history in a blur of music and movement. Her repertoire, which has become classic, spans pre-Columbian cultures and Spanish influences to the revolutionary times, a testament to her extensive research of the folklore, music, costumes and dance of the 31 states of Mexico.
Peña-Marin says it’s important to teach students to pay homage to cultural traditions in an accurate and respectful way, but also to allow for the considered, creative choices that bring informal, everyday dance traditions to vivid life on stage. “It’s a fine line of keeping the tradition but also making it presentable for stage production,” she said. “Whenever you are working with cultural dance forms – it doesn’t matter what culture it is – I think we all walk those fine lines.”
PHOTO 1: Marlene Peña-Marin, left, artistic director of Relámpago del Cielo, and Amalia Viviana Basanta Hernández, artistic director of Ballet Folklórico de México and daughter of the founder Amalia Hernández. PHOTO 2: Dancers of Ballet Folklórico de México led workshops for dancers at Relámpago del Cielo. Photo courtesy of Amalia Viviana Basanta Hernández
It’s a creative challenge that many new ballet folklórico dancers will have to navigate, as interest in the art form has skyrocketed.
When Peña-Marin was encouraged by her mother to begin teaching ballet folklórico to youth in the mid-1980s, she could expect around seven or eight kids in a class. Now, there are anywhere from 325 to 350 students in the children’s studio alone, and even though enrollment predictably took a dip during the pandemic, numbers bounced back to pre-COVID levels by 2022. By that time, OCSA was reaching out to her about starting a ballet folklórico conservatory, and calls started pouring into Relámpago from school districts looking for ballet folklórico teachers for after-school programs. “That has taken off down the state of California,” she said. “Probably just about every school district is looking for folklórico instructors for their K-12 schools …. We can’t keep up with the demand for instructors.”
She attributes the rise in interest to a variety of reasons, including parents seeing the physical and emotional health benefits of dance, and seeing ballet folklórico specifically as a way of keeping them connected to their heritage.
The demand is so great that Peña-Marin’s next goal is working to create California’s first collegiate-level ballet folklórico program, meeting the workforce need and ensuring that dancers receive the more advanced training they’re looking for to continue teaching the art form to the next generation.
“I feel the possibilities are endless,” she said.
