Our Stories
Most important to Mama was teaching the concept of respect. She believed that if you can respect your own culture, you can respect another’s. And if you can respect another’s, then, perhaps, there will be a little bit more peace and harmony in the world.
Mama soon joined the negotiating efforts of a group of Chicano artists who were demanding a cultural center in Balboa Park from the City of San Diego. Finally, an abandoned water tank was given to our artist community in 1970 that became the Centro Cultural de la Raza, and Mama was a founding member. I was with her when the City people gave her the keys to the building. Mama said, “Let a child enter first.” So, I was actually the first who walked into the Centro. I remember the big, old, wooden doors. Inside, the place was very dusty and empty. It needed life. We began to clean it up. My mother provided energy, cleaning, cooking, and transportation. My father picked up kids and brought them to the classes. She taught Ballet Folklórico classes, provided the vestuarios (costumes) for free, and made the dance costumes herself. Mama was such an excellent designer and seamstress that she taught other families how to sew.
Through the Ballet Folklórico en Aztlán, I keep Mama’s legacy alive.
Folklórico en Aztlán dancers (Photo courtesy Latino Legacy Foundation)
Folklórico is not just the stamping of feet and the twirling of colorful skirts. It’s much, much more.
It’s about the embodiment of the wisdom and knowledge of our people, shared for centuries through folklore, music, dance and costumes. Mama was adamant about teaching the history of each dance and region.
Herminia Enrique and Viviana Enrique Acosta Every March Ballet Folklórico en Aztlán Commemorates Herminia Enrique’s Excellence in the Arts with a Tribute (Photo courtesy Viviana Enrique Acosta)
Herminia Enrique sewing skirts at Centro Cultural de la Raza, 1999 (Photo courtesy Viviana Enrique Acosta)
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San Diego Latino Legacy – Timeline • Milestones • Stories
Chapter 5 – The Chicano Cultural Renaissance
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