Our Stories
Mama’s Legacy By Viviana Enrique Acosta CEO Ballet Folklórico en Aztlán
In a time when there were no vaccines, my eldest brother Leonard had polio as a child. Mama researched what she could do to alleviate his discomfort and keep him healthy. She and Daddy would take Leonard and his twin brother, Andrés, walking. One day, they heard Mexican music coming from a dance studio and enrolled him in dance classes. It was the beginning of our family’s active engagement with our culture. Eventually, I took dance lessons along with my three brothers and seven sisters. In 1967, my father Julio was transferred from Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio to North Island, Coronado. My parents soon found out there was a great need for Mexican cultural expression in San Diego.
My mother, whom we called Mama, grew up in San Antonio, Texas, during the Great Depression. To help her family she taught dance, poetry, sewing, and cooking to families in her neighborhood. Love of the arts continued, especially once she started raising her own children.
And so, my mother, Herminia, started folklórico dance instruction at Kimball Recreation Center in National City. Within a week, about 100 students enrolled. That same year, Mama founded the Ballet Folklórico en Aztlán Dance Theatre Company.
Ballet Folklórico en Aztlán (Photo Courtesy Viviana Enrique Acosta )
Left to right: Herminia and Julio Enrique with their twin sons (Photo courtesy Viviana Enrique Acosta)
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