Son Jarocho is a folkloric music developed from the southern Mexican states of Veracruz and Tamaulipas. This Afro-Mestizo hybrid blends Spanish, indigenous (primarily Huastecan), and African elements into a joyous celebration of Mexican identity. Son Jarocho is often played only on jaranas (small stringed instruments) and sung in a call…
Teatro Visión de San José is a Chicano theater company with nearly three decades of service to the community. Their mission is to celebrate culture, nurture community, and inspire vision through art that moves people to feel, think, and act to create a better world. Teatro…
Tulare County League of Mexican-American Women (TCLMAW) was founded in 1979 by five Tulare County Mexican-American women who were dedicated to educating and increasing the knowledge of women in Tulare County through activities such as conferences, workshops, and community projects. This dedication continues today. The TCLMAW…
In the Northwestern area of the state of Michoacán resides an indigenous group known as the Tarascos, who are also referred to as Purépecha, pertaining to the language spoken by this group. The Purépecha people have been successful in retaining a variety of cultural expressions in addition to the language.
INCA, the Peruvian Music & Dance Ensemble, was founded in 1981 in Los Angeles, for the purpose of researching, preserving, and presenting Peru’s rich multi-cultural heritage of ethnic and folkloric music, songs, dance, and traditions. INCA performs music and dances from the Andean region of Peru…
For over 40 years, the Inlakech Cultural Arts Center/Lucha, Inc. has provided youth and adults with a free, afterschool cultural education program. Centered in the heart of Oxnard, California, many of Inlakech’s students come from low-income agricultural families, who are greatly underserved. Children from the age of two to the…
The descendants of the Yoruba people of Nigeria continue to preserve their connection to their ancestral traditions and art forms through ritual song, dance, and drumming. The nuances of these traditional elements are available only to those initiated, allowing for a robust spiritual knowledge and deeper understanding of the religious…
Domitilia Clemente was born and raised in the small town of Ocumichu, Michoacán, Mexico. As a child, she began helping her mother in the kitchen, preparing numerous traditional dishes to celebrate special occasions such as the celebrations of saints (Fiesta de San Pedro, Cristo Rey, Virgen de Guadalupe), as well…
The tradition of backstrap weaving is very popular in many towns in Oaxaca, Mexico. Practiced and taught through generations of women, weaving on a backstrap loom is used to make shawls, napkins, belts, and other items needed for daily life and traditional clothing. In her hometown of San Juan Mixtepec…
Started in 2005, Grupo Folklórico Juan Colorado offers free Mexican folkórico (folk dance) instruction to students of Planada Elementary School in Planada, California. The group is voluntarily taught and directed by committed community member Carolina Arceo. A grant from ACTA’s Living Cultures Grants Program in 2015…
