LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Mexico Vivo Dance Company is celebrating 30 years of preserving Mexican cultural tradition in the Las Vegas valley.
Founder Ixela Gutierrez started the folklorico group in the 1990s after touring the country as a professional dancer. A performance in Las Vegas prompted her decision to stay.
“When we finish, I say, ‘I’m going to move to Las Vegas,’ and they say, ‘Are you crazy?’” Gutierrez said.
From parking lots to cultural institutions
What began with practices in borrowed spaces and parking lots grew into an established program. Over time, the company shifted its focus to children, working to pass tradition to the next generation.
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“They don’t even speak Spanish, they never have been in Mexico or in another Latin American country, but when they learn, it’s like, OK, your parents or your grandparents came from this, and that’s when they say, ‘oh my God, I feel like so happy and so proud’,” Gutierrez said.
Students become instructors
Marisol Hernandez started as a student under Gutierrez and is now an instructor and artistic director with the company.
“Dancing, learning about my Mexican culture just gave it a special touch, it made me more connected to what I missed in my country, and it just gave me a spark,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez said her own children are now growing up in the program, learning about their roots through dance.
“For a lot of us, sometimes we’re able to travel back to Mexico, sometimes we’re not. This is a way to connect to our culture,” Hernandez said.
Mexico Vivo welcomes dancers ages 4 and up.
The company says there is no age limit and no dance experience required to join.
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