As a vendor with the New York City Department of Education, Calpulli offers an array of programming to educators allowing access to the company’s expertise in Mexican traditional dance and culture. Programs include lecture-demonstrations, workshops, and residencies. Calpulli’s programs add value to educational experiences, complimenting lessons in the classroom.
The following are Calpulli Mexican Dance Company’s most popular arts-in-education offerings. Please contact us for additional details, references, and fees.
Lecture-Demonstration and Dance Performance/ Assembly Program
Calpulli explores Mexican traditional dance through a varied selection of dances based on the company’s repertoire. Talented dancers perform distinct regional dances showcasing unique costumes and rhythms. A narrator explains the historical and cultural background of each dance suite and also leads fun, interactive workshops with audiences. Workshops include faldeo (skirt-work), footwork, and joining performers on the stage.
For schools, the content of the performance can be tailored to compliment lessons in the classroom. It can also compliment a residency, providing students a point of reference for their learning. The assembly is tailored for all ages- from PreK to Universities- and can accommodate large venues (>1000 seating).
Instructional Workshop about a Traditional Mexican Dance
Teaching Artists lead an interaction-based program in which a select number of dances (1-2) are explored through their movement attributes. The selection of dances are performed by the Teaching Artists and then audiences learn simplified movements, use props, and discuss the cultural backgrounds of each dance. Dances include “La bamba,” a 100-year old wedding dance from the state of Veracruz, and “El jarabe tapatio,” better-known as the Mexican hat dance, is choreographed with instructional aids. A variety of dances are available to correspond with the goals of the event. The workshop is suitable for an audience size as large as 30 individuals.
Professional development workshops are also available for educators who wish to work with Calpulli Teaching Artists.
Residencies with Calpulli Mexican Dance Program
Residencies are extended engagements with Calpulli Teaching Artists in which lessons in the classroom are complimented by dance curriculum. Classes meet for one or more sessions per week for several weeks culminating with a student performance.
Calpulli works closely with faculty to develop lesson plans and goals for the residency. Calpulli is also able to provide professional costumes for student performances.
Residencies have multiple goals for students, teachers, and even parents and the community. They also have multiple benefits. Teaching Artists with Calpulli have diverse backgrounds in dance including, of course, Mexican traditional dance expertise, ballet, and Teaching Artist training. Calpulli also applies the NYC DOE Blueprint for Dance to develop lesson plans and align with state and local teaching standards.
Lecture-Demonstrations and Workshops (as above) with Live Music
The unique genres of music that inspire dance are presented by the Calpulli Musicians. Live music enhances the performance experience and provides a rich source of educational content. Musical genres are explored via instrumentation and performance, and dances are performed with accompaniment.
Indigenous music, Mariachi amd Coastal rhythms are just a few genres available.
Customized Programs
Calpulli is receptive to developing educational programs that meet specific needs and goals. Previously, Calpulli has developed unique programs jointly with educators that include the following:
Costume-Making Workshops, Spanish Language through Dance, Parents as Arts Partners Workshops, Professional Development, and Workshops for Educators.
Please contact us with your ideas!
Testimonials
Donna Damone, Teacher, Central Valley Schools
"We loved it!!!!! Just the fact that the "most challenged" of our students came up to the stage to participate was in of itself a true MIRACLE!!!!! Thank You so very much !!!! We hope to see you next year with an expanded performance of your marvelous Calpulli Mexican Dance Company. The teachers and staff of the school expressed their amazement of your performance and the impact you had on our children. Please come again to our school next year."
- Donna Damone, Teacher, Central Valley Schools
Susan Carpente-Kern, Teacher, IS61
"The first day with the students and Alberto is fabulous and wonderful!! The students had such a great time. Even parent volunteers showed up to help out. One of my former students came in to drop off some papers and said, ‘I’m jealous, why didn’t we do something like this last year! So that was great to hear."
Rebecca Anderson, Global Language Project
"The workshop was absolutely fabulous, and students LOVED it and got to learn, too 🙂 Parents stayed to watch entranced instead of making their kids leave in the middle (which I have seen with other workshops.)"
Teacher in NYC about costume-making workshops
Great job students are doing & can’t speak highly enough regarding Alberto Lopez! Students adore him. He is a consummate professional. What an amazing experience for the students and me!
Teacher attending assembly at Goucher College
"I LOVED the show. It worked so well - the interactions with the audience; the costumes; the foot work; the vocalizations. It wasn't too long. It was so engaging! My class will be dancing all week and beyond! Excellent!"
Brooklyn Public Library, Programs & Exhibitions Department
"We received a great response and appreciation from the audience (both kids and adults) after the program. We love the unique and energy filled programing you continually bring."
Brooklyn Public Library
Mary Sierra, Suffolk Community College
I can’t thank you enough for the wonderful and beautiful performances on May 5th. Our campus is still talking about your dance troupe!
Major Fernando J. Maymí, CISSP, U.S. Military Academy in West Point, NY
Your company’s performance at West Point this past Friday was phenomenal. Your dancers exceeded all our expectations and delivered a show that engaged and enthralled the audience in a way I have never before witnessed. Please pass on our sincere thanks to all who made this possible. Keep up the great work you’re doing in promoting our cultural heritage.
Michelle Robinson in New York City
On behalf of all of us at the B.E.S.T Program Seniors Center, I want to thank all the dancers for such a great job. The senior were totally amazed and did not stop talking about them for a week.
Mary L. Dono, Principal of The Harry T. Stewart School, Audience Development Series of Workshops Collaboration with Queens Theatre in the Park in Corona, NY
The children, straff, and parents of P.S. 92 Community of Learners would like to express out appreciation for the opportunity to host the Calpulli Mexican Dance Co. The dancers were just wonderful! The costumes and cultural roots of the music and dances were carefully explained in a child-centered manner.
Kathryn Smith, PS 163 Parents as Arts Partner in New York City
Response to the event has been incredibly enthusiastic, and… your workshop attracted some families who had never before attended a school event -- precisely what we hoped to achieve in applying for this grant.
Embassador Ramon Xilotl, Mexican General Consul in New York about Calpulli
It is admirable – the talent and the professionalism developed among the members of Calpulli, above all among the new generations born and raised in the U.S. You have that touch so Mexican that one forgets we are seeing this performance at Carnegie Hall in New York.
Jenny Seham, PhD, International Consulting, about Calpulli’s assembly performance with the National Dance Institute
The dancing and music were perfection- and your knowledge, ease with the audience, and immediate relationship with our dancers made this an afternoon that exceeded expectations.
Julia Garland, Teacher, PS 503 in Brooklyn about Residency program held January through March annually
Wow! We absolutely loved working with you. Thank you so much for everything. Alberto [Lopez] was a warm, energetic, and well-prepared teacher who we would love to have come back to our school.
Mrs. Bustamante, Teacher, Grace Lutheran Day School about show at Kupferberg Center (Queens College)
My students enjoyed the show very much. They can’t stop talking about it. Thank you.
Professor Amelia Moreno at Cedar Crest College in Allentown, PA
Calpulli's peformance was the perfect complement for our Día de los muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration! Students truly enjoyed the live music and dancing. The interactive portion of the show was a pleasant surprise, not only fun but also educational. The audience was engaged and, at the end of the show, expressed interest in the rich Mexican culture.
Recent Studies on Education
A study published recently in the Harvard Educational Review tracked over 100 Latino families for 15 years. Study author Dr. Estela Zarate found one clear trait of high-achieving students was adopting a "hybrid identity...that they are American and they are Latino." On average, students in the study who embraced their parents' cultural heritage, instead of casting it off, were also the students performing best in school. Calpulli teaches students to bailar al estilo mexicano—to learn traditional Mexican dance with all its influences, nuances, passions, stories, symbolism, rhythms, and history— thus instilling great pride in the students’ roots.
A set of University of California at Santa Cruz studies tracked 200 high-achieving Latino and Latina doctoral students. The studies found some of these students struggled in elementary or high school, but that relationships with adult mentors had turned them around. Calpulli's teachers provide strong role models for younger students. Through well-structured classes, uniforms, and goal-setting, the program also teaches discipline and determination.
Nationwide, Latino boys are in especially dire need of mentors. By some counts, about half don't finish high school in four years. Dr. Zarate's study found that long before dropping out, many boys reported "no relationship with teachers" leading them to "disengage" from school. Less than two percent of U.S. teachers are Latino men, creating a dearth of role models. Calpulli provides both male and female teachers in each classroom, offering boys a chance to connect with male mentors.
