Folklórico group enciende USC Village

Coming in one by one in their vibrant, vestuarios flowing onto the makeshift stage set in the USC Village Plaza, members of Grupo Folklórico de USC began their inaugural Día de los Muertos Showcase by performing Flor de Piña, a regional song from Oaxaca, Mexico.

An audience of more than 200 people, including President Carol Folt, watched the dancers sway and dance back and forth across the stage while balancing pineapples on their shoulders.  

Off to one side of the stage, a Día de los Muertos altar honoring friends and family members who have passed away decorated with marigold flowers, pan de muerto, candles and photos. The spiritual holiday is typically celebrated from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2 and is rooted in indigenous and mestizo culture in Mexico. 

“In a lot of cultures, death is something that’s almost feared, and I think Día de los Muertos is something that embraces it,” said Ada Marys Lorenzana, a member of the group. “I think the best thing we did with this performance is try to honor that culture and try to honor our loved ones.” 

By hosting the event, the club wanted to represent Mexican culture and the Latinx community on campus by taking up such a large and prominent space frequented by students and neighbors daily. 

“[Latinx students] are a very small percentage on campus,” said Evelyn Lopez, a 2019 alumna who led the effort to reestablish Grupo Folklórico de USC last year. “We’re about [15%] right now … We just want to represent that little portion of campus and the fact that we are in [a community that USC resides in] which is primarily minorities.”

Paola Morales, a junior majoring in political science, said she was impressed with the effort the group put into the showcase and was particularly fond of the Sinaloa performance that expressed the vibrant garments of the region. 

“What made me come out [to the showcase] is being able to see my culture represented in a space that is predominantly white people and being right here in the middle of campus [where] everyone can see and that my culture is so vibrant and beautiful,” Morales said. 

The group performed Mexican regional dances from Guerrero, Yucatán, Sinaloa and Chihuahua to songs such as “La Iguana,” “El Coyote” and “Las Aguas de Río Nonoava.” Each dance tells a story about the region displayed through their varying choreography with each number and outfit changes. 

Folt arrived toward the beginning of the event, standing in the back of the audience to not steer attention away from the performance. At the end of the event, Folkórico members invited her to the altar where they explained the personal significance of the event to the Latinx community. 

“I just think this is a beautiful cultural event,” Folt said. “I love that it is designed to both celebrate the culture by the people whose culture it is and teach everybody else about it. So I’d love to see every single USC student here because it’s wonderful.” 

Morales, who noticed Folt at the event, was happy to see that Folt was making an effort to be involved in cultural events that pertain to underrepresented groups on campus. 

“It made me feel good that I saw President Folt made an appearance,” Morales said. “She actually stayed here to interact with students and see the work that the students put in — I think that shows her commitment to students of color and to diversity on this campus.” 

Grupo Folklórico de USC, which students reestablished in 2018 following a hiatus that lasted several years, practices in the Jefferson Boulevard Parking Structure two nights a week under the lighting of Dedeaux Field, which the group’s president Linda Diaz said often turns off by 7:30 p.m.  

“And then we’re pretty much in the dark. When we’re preparing, especially for this showcase, we’re using our flashlights on our phones just to try to see what we’re doing,” Diaz said. “And every now and then cars will have to pass by so we have to pause a rehearsal and allow them to pass just for safety.”

There is no current update to the fate of the group’s practice area for next semester, however the group has arranged a meeting with Student Affairs to resolve this issue for dance groups on campus. 

Although the group hoped for better circumstances to prepare for its showcase, Mia Islas, a freshman majoring in communication, said the show helped her feel represented on campus.

“It’s like a part of our culture that we grew up seeing, so seeing it where we’re living and like in a city that we could see ourselves living in for the rest of our lives is comforting,” Islas said. “It’s like going back home or like making a new home.”