Dresses flowing through the air, the stomping coming from the beautiful heels, the movement and partnership in the dancing. Moving in sync makes an excellent performance to watch and enjoy.
In 2024 Sandra Davila, the former Migrant student Advocate at SWHS and SSHS, formed a traditional Mexican group dance called, “Folklorico,” with the idea of bringing the Latin culture to Sedro-Woolley High School.
“I wanted to make a positive change for our Latino students. When I attended our migrants PAC meeting, parents wanted to see the cultural representation here in Sedro-Woolley,” Davila said.
Davila hopes that they can participate in events and show pride in the dances that represent different states in Mexico. As a small Latin community in Skagit, we get to see the enjoyment many get from seeing, dancing, and contributing to the dances. With the dance originally coming from Mexico it has now become a worldwide tradition for many schools, groups, and communities.
As a small community of Latinx at Sedro-Woolley High School, we bring the traditional dance of Folklorico to spread our beautiful culture and bring out our traditional dance to SWHS. It not only helps us come together doing something we enjoy but brings more people to want to learn from other cultures.
“There are students that I never thought would join the club who are in the club. I see them enjoying their time, learning new traditional dances and connecting with other students,” Davila said.
Bringing new opportunities has had a positive impact on a lot of us Latinos. Not only did it bring us together, but it helped people out of
their comfort zone and brought them to learn something new.
“It helped me get out of my comfort zone and be confident in myself around others,” Anthony Manzano said. Sedro-Woolley Folklorico not only encourages Latinx to join, but encourages people of all races. Davila wants to make changes to bring more Hispanic cultural activities to SWHS. Ramon Rivera, the Mariachi and Folklorico teacher at the MV school district, started the Folklorico dance group with a small group of people and now has around 96 girls in the group with three classes of Beginner, intermediate, and advanced.
“When the students get the opportunity to dance everyday and get to perform it’s just a great program to show our pride and what being Latino is all about,” Rivera said.
With other schools that include many cultural traditions, as a Latin community at Sedro-Woolley High School, we would not only like to involve more of our traditions but also come together to express our pride and show the beauty that it holds.
“Kids are connected to school when kids are involved in something,” Rivera said. “It’s just like being in football or cheerleading or band. It’s something that’s a positive outlet that we need to give students.”
Getting the opportunity to participate in groups within the school not only encourages kids to show up more, but also to have reasons to enjoy attending school daily. Kids need positive outlets, and allowing them to dance Folklorico makes Latinos feel they belong and are a part of something.
“It just makes school fun,” said Cristopher Manzano, a member of the SWHS Folklorico group.“I’m not really a big fan of school, but you get to learn how to dance on the side by being a part of the group. So that’s cool.”
SWHS folklorico makes a big impact on Sedro-Woolley. The younger generation of Mexicans came together with hopes that the group would continue for many years and become a bigger thing. Not only does the high school get the chance to dance, but also includes the middle school.
We all get the opportunity to meet new people, connect, and feel a sense of belonging. Folklorico is such a beautiful dance that we as Hispanics encourage more than just Mexicans to join. We want many to feel included and to learn and experience new opportunities.
