Passage I

Amalia Hernández's Ballet Folklórico de México

Amalia Hernández bowed gracefully before the crowd, many viewers stood and applauded, showing their appreciation for the performance they had just witnessed. Hernández didn't know it yet, but she and her Ballet Folklórico dancers had just won first prize at the 1961 Paris Festival of Nations. (2)

Growing up, in Mexico in the 1920s Hernández believed she was born to dance. Her father, a prominent rancher and politician, did not approve of his daughter exhibiting herself in such a manner. But Amalia was persistent. Despite this, her father acquiesced, when he thought about it and gave in, allowing, even helping, her to pursue her dream.

Senator Hernández built a dance studio and hired Europe's finest teachers to instruct Amalia in: classical and modern ballet. The young woman relished the experience and excelled in her studies, but something wasn't right. (7)

So Amalia began studying under Mexican folklorist Luis Felipe Obregón. She learned that her countrys folklore was a fusion of Aztec, Mayan, Spanish, French, Dutch, and African influences. The songs and dances she cherished chronicled life, death, and to have a rebirth; they celebrated creation and revolution; they celebrated the seasons and the harvest. However, Hernández decided to translate this lore into a new kind of ballet.

In 1952, she left a prestigious job at Mexico's Institute of Fine Arts to start her own dance company, the Ballet Folklórico de México. She immediately began to develop a program for her small troupe of dancers. (12)

In 1954, Mexico's Department of Tourism made the Ballet Folklórico an official cultural ambassador. It has won hundreds of awards and toured over eighty countries, performing in a range of venues from the Greek Parthenon to New York's Radio City Music Hall.

Though Hernández died in 2000, her legacy: the Ballet Folklórico—lives on, as an outstanding dance company.