Meet Cedar Rapids ballet folklórico group Fuerzas Culturales’ new instructors

CEDAR RAPIDS — Samantha Hernandez grew up dancing ballet folklórico in the Quad Cities, one of few Spanish speakers in a predominantly white, English-speaking area. Erik Torres, originally from Mexico, learned his home country’s traditional dance style in school and later taught it to Mexican youth.

They both had different journeys to embracing ballet folklórico, which originated from Mexico’s various regions and states. But this summer, they were both tapped to serve as the new instructors for Fuerzas Culturales, Cedar Rapids’ first ballet folklórico dance group. The collective term for the genre encompasses traditional cultural dances that emphasize local folk culture with ballet characteristics.

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Hernandez, 24, and Torres, 27, started the roles in July after the group’s first instructor, Nallely Sanchez, graduated from Coe College and left the role. Her departure marked a pivotal moment for the group — after all, a dance group couldn’t go on without instructors. Finding the new instructors allowed the fledgling group to carry on.

When the group first formed in 2022, it had about 17 youth involved as of July 2022. Now, board President Miguel Burgos said the group is made up of about 30 kids. With lots of work needed behind the scenes to get costumes for kids, he said enrollment now opens in seasons, typically allowing new participants when there’s a down season long before major performances so students can learn the dances together.

Hernandez, a Coe alum who is earning her master’s in public health at the University of Iowa, said she started dancing at age 7. She graduated high school with the Quad Cities’ ballet folklórico group, where she found a “family bond” in their shared culture.

“A lot of it was the culture aspect growing up,” Hernandez said of why she enjoyed dancing. “I was like the only Spanish-speaking student at times and I was kind of shy. So having people that also knew Spanish or were just interested in the culture, it was nice to … get to know people and spend a lot of time together.”

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Dancing built Hernandez’s confidence as a performer and a person, she said. Now, she takes opportunities to talk to her students about confidence, even when they make mistakes on stage. She tells them to keep smiling and moving when they falter — to look confident no matter what.

“Making sure they know they look really cool and people like it and just letting them perform for the audience and seeing the audience, how they react to things, making sure they keep that in mind,” Hernandez said. “They see whenever their energy is high, the audience reacts and they love it.”

Sometimes when Hernandez returns home, she flips through photos from when she started dancing. She was initially reluctant to join the Quad Cities group.

“I would have never thought I'd be teaching kids how to do that, but it's a nice full circle,” Hernandez said.

Torres said he grew up in northern Mexico in the state of Durango and has been in the Cedar Rapids area for five years. A full-time construction worker, Torres started dancing when he was 12, learning to dance at school.

“What I like most about dancing is that I learn many customs and traditions from other states,” Torres said.

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He started to teach youth to dance at age 21, and found that he loved to see them feel a passion for folk dance. Torres said he was invited to be part of this group because of his experience as an instructor in Mexico, and he has enjoyed teaching the students how to dance step-by-step.

“What I have learned most from these students is not to give up and keep going,” Torres said.

Having danced with an established folklórico group, Hernandez said she leverages that background and Torres uses his, together doing their research and blending it together to come up with everything from the choreography to the costume ideas.

“I had never had a partner as an instructor and Samantha is a great instructor, and I learned a lot from her and I love the way she works,” Torres said. “She is very organized and above all a great dancer, we always make sure that all the children learn and no one is left behind. Each of us puts on a dance from some state and we make sure everyone learns. It's wonderful to work alongside her.”

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Fuerzas Culturales board Vice President Andrew Bribriesco, whose 8-year-old daughter, Paloma, dances with the group, said he and the other three board members launched the search for instructors with Sanchez’s departure. Burgos was connected with Torres through their church and Bribriesco, a Quad Cities native, had contacts there who shared the opportunity with Hernandez.

After interviewing them both, Bribriesco said, it was clear they should do the job together.

Burgos said it helps to have Torres’ and Hernandez’s blend of backgrounds leading the group, with Torres being a native Spanish speaker and Hernandez speaking Spanish but having English as her first language.

“With them too, they come from very, very different backgrounds, so it's good to see that they're able to work together and really put the dances together, the choreography, the steps,” Burgos said. “They talk things over and make a decision. It’s really good to see two different people come together for a good purpose, for a good cause.”

Though they’re opposites, Burgos said, they seem to jibe well together.

Hernandez is the quieter of the two instructors, he said, but from her responses it’s clear that she gives a lot of thought to her decisions. Her sense of responsibility from having serving in the military also appealed to the board. Meanwhile, Burgos said Torres is funny and more talkative, but strict from having run a competitive youth dance group in Mexico — looking to ensure the children get the steps right.

Burgos said the kids loved Sanchez and related to her multicultural background, but he sees the bond growing with the new instructors.

“They benefit from the two perspectives, two different backgrounds on the folkloric dance — one coming straight from Mexico and the other from the Quad Cities,” Burgos said.

Bribriesco said it’s helpful to have two coaches working with the children as an extra set of eyes. Hernandez can guide them through the motions while Torres typically circles the group to correct their movements.

“Sam and Erik work very well together,” Bribriesco said. “When instructors work well together, it translates to excellent teaching for the kids. … You can see how passionate they are about it. It’s something that’s part of their lives.”

For the instructors, Bribriesco said it’s evident from the time they devote to the organization that their passion goes beyond teaching youth a skill set. It’s about sharing their culture — with other Latinos as well as the broader Cedar Rapids community.

“We are so blessed to have them teaching our kids because without them, we wouldn’t have a group,” Bribriesco said.

Being a good instructor, Bribriesco said, takes an ability to relate to kids, to communicate effectively and keep the patience to work with them. These instructors have done all that and more — largely inheriting the songs the group dances to but making them their own.

Most importantly, Bribriesco said the instructors need to know each student and see how they can fit in well within the group as a whole. Hernandez and Torres are intentional about “including everybody,” he said.

“Anybody can join ballet folklórico, no matter what you’re background is,” Bribriesco said.

Growing up in Cedar Rapids since 1996, Burgos said he was never exposed to folkloric dancing as part of his culture. He said the group is always open to anybody looking for Fuerzas Culturales to present at events and to allow kids to learn about culture, art and dance.

“We’re so happy to be involved here in Cedar Rapids,” Burgos said.

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