Esperanza del Valle celebrates Mexican culture through folklórico attire in Watsonville

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The intricate clothing of ballet folklórico will come alive Saturday at the Watsonville Center for the Arts, where renowned dance company Esperanza del Valle is displaying 15 traditional vestuarios for the first time in its 46-year history.

The ruffles and rhinestones of Carnival-inspired costumes stand side by side with delicate Oaxacan hand-beaded blouses and skirts covered in lace and ribbons. Nearby, a metallic headpiece topped with a towering, jewel-toned sun dates back 35 years to a Día de los Muertos celebration in the Huasteca region.

The exhibit, “Threads of Identity: The Art Of Folklórico Attire,” which features outfits spanning multiple regions across Mexico, was curated by Esperanza del Valle artistic director Janet Johns and assistant director Ruby Vasquez, as well as Watsonville Arts Program Manager Yesenia Molina.

The opening reception is Saturday, Oct. 10, at 6 p.m., with a fashion show at 7 p.m. featuring student dancers from Esperanza del Valle and other prominent folklórico groups modeling the vibrant outfits, headpieces and jewelry.

Johns and Vasquez have spent decades studying traditional dances across Mexico and bringing what they learned back to Watsonville. What started with a Rockefeller Foundation grant to travel to Huasteca and meet with the Indigenous communities performing has turned into a lifelong commitment to authentically representing the dances and attire at Esperanza del Valle. 

They worked with maestro Gabriel Mendoza Torres, who challenged them to learn directly from people performing in Mexico: “He said, ‘If you really want to learn about the dances from this region, you need to walk amongst the people. Anything you see on stage has been modified,’” Vasquez said.

They also learned about the historical and cultural influences on folklórico music and outfits, which come from European, African and Indigenous styles. As educators, Johns and Vasquez make it a priority to teach their students about the variety of influences on folklórico.

“To just see Mexican culture as Jalisco and mariachi is just really short-sighted, because we haven’t even touched the surface of how many regions and dance communities there are all over that republic,” Johns said.

When representing the Campeche region, men often don billowy white shirts with gold buttons, representing the state’s history with pirates on the Gulf of Mexico. Women wear lace skirts and gold rosaries — symbols of Spanish Catholic influence — paired with embroidered huipils, a type of tunic traditional in Central American Indigenous communities.

Many of the outfits come from Mexico, brought over by maestros who teach dance at Esperanza del Valle.

“We’ve been fortunate to have such generous teachers that have not only shared their dance but shared everything, their music, even down to the earring,” Johns said.

Vasquez also founded Estrellas de Esperanza, teaching folklórico to dancers from kindergarten to 12th grade. Many of them graduate into Esperanza del Valle. 

Esperanza del Valle has also established a formal partnership with the University of Veracruz, which is connected through Cabrillo College, where Johns teaches dance, focuses on “reinforcing cultural identity.”

Vasquez said the partnership, which helps dancers visit Mexico to learn more about folklórico and their culture, is “just what our youth need. They need to be valued, not only for the things that they do, but for who they are and where they come from.” 

In addition to putting together the exhibit as part of her role for Arts Council Santa Cruz County, Molina has also danced for Esperanza del Valle since she turned 18. She said her role is to “find people that are already doing the work, but not getting the recognition they deserve.”

“Right now, Mexican culture and our identity is very much looked down upon in mainstream society,” Molina said. “Any little bit of culture that we can put out there is an act of resistance.”

Molina recalled going to Mexico with the dance company: “One of the things I learned is just being humble and understanding and knowing that some of these communities that we’re going into, how giving these people were being with us, even though they had very little to give.”

Johns and Vasquez hope people see the diversity in Mexican culture through the exhibit, in addition to recognizing how carefully designed the vestuarios are. Some pieces, like the embroidered aprons, took months to craft, Johns said. 

“I have lots of the embroidered blouses, rebozos, earrings, and every time I put things on, I just think, ‘Wow, what a work of art.’ Somebody actually spent hours of their life embroidering or making something,” Vasquez said. “It’s an honor to wear it.” 

Beyond the show, the two plan to continue “nourishing and fortifying” Esperanza del Valle, furthering the spirit of folklórico in Watsonville. 

“When we’re performing on the street here for Cinco de Mayo or for 16th of September, people are being transported back to a place that they haven’t been able to go back to because they don’t have the right documents,” Vasquez said. “The dance, the music, the outfits — everything comes together.”

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