SALT LAKE CITY — For over 27 years, Salt Lake City resident Maxine Lucero has kept Mexican traditions alive in Utah through movement and music.
“We see people in the audience, and we see people get excited about our music, that is the beauty of this,” said Lucero, the founder and director of WestSide Dance, an organization in Salt Lake City that specializes in teaching youth baile folklórico.
Baile folklórico is a collection of dance, music and traditional wear that highlights several Mexican cultures.
“It’s a country that is just so diverse with the different influences of an indigenous, Spanish, African American,” explained Lucero. “It's just a melting pot of just all these different rhythms and beats and stomps.”
Lucero says her love for dance at an early age led her to form WestSide Dance in 1997. As a child, Lucero was a member of the Utah Ballet Folklórico, a group founded by the Utah Arts Council.
“Years later, after I had children of my own and they saw pictures of me dancing, they wanted to continue on,” Lucero shared. “So I started a group with just a few kids and then soon it just built.”
The very kids who formed the group also picked out the group's name. According to Lucero, WestSide Dance got its namesake from the dancers' pride in the Salt Lake Valley’s West side.
While there is a fee to join the class, Lucero says the program never turns kids away. To date, more than 500 kids have passed through Lucero’s class.
“We will never tell a child that they cannot participate because they cannot pay dance fees or have costumes,” Lucero said. “We always find a way. We always find a way to get costumes, to have children involved, and find sponsors."
The class’s community atmosphere and focus on expressing one’s culture is what Ed Muñoz says has kept his daughters coming back for over 10 years.
“For my girls, from what I can see it helps them be proud of who they are,” Muñoz said. “No matter what, especially in the face of the anti-Latino sentiment that we see, not just in Utah but around the country, it gives them strength to fight back against that and be proud of who they are and that they belong here in the United States.”
Muñoz’s daughter, Julisa Muñoz, is now teaching the younger generation of WestSide Dance students.
“I feel a lot of joy that I can still do this, that I can still be close to my culture and be a part of teaching the new generation and just helping these other younger kids find the love of folklórico,” Julisa said.
The group proudly displays its culture year-round through performances and community service. Lucero also teaches a free folklórico class at Rose Park Elementary's Community Learning Center.
“I think it's just very important to maintain their culture and let the children know their roots," she said.
Most importantly, however, Lucero says the class has not only learned about their culture but has also learned to become a family.
“We are a family, and we are proud of our kids,” Lucero said with a smile. “Our kids will take the little ones on, and they'll help them. They'll do their skirt moves with them. It's just it's a beautiful thing.”
WestSide Dance meets Wednesday and Thursday nights to practice at the Sugar Space Arts Warehouse. For more information on how to join this group, visit the WestSide Dance Facebook page.
