our calpulli of artists

Felicia B Avalos is a performer, choreographer, and educator of modern and Mexican folklórico dance forms based in New York City. She received her BFA in Dance from Sam Houston State University, and her MFA at The George Washington University (GWU), where she was awarded a University Fellowship.  Felicia’s work focuses on Mexican and Central American political and social issues,inspired by her own father’s journey crossing the Mexican border. Avalos uses Muay Thai boxing and Brazilian jiu jitsu, two movement forms that deeply inform her choreographic process and movement aesthetic. Her own choreographic work has been presented in Israel, Australia, Washington, DC, New Jersey and extensively throughout New York. Avalos is a performer and educator with Calpulli Mexican Dance Company.  With the company, she has performed at Jacob's Pillow, The New Victory Theater on Broadway, the Met, Summer Stage with Lila Downs, Is Sanat Theater in Istanbul, Turkey, and Apollo Theater in Harlem.

Eli Cano holds a B.F.A. in Ballet from Texas Christian University. He studied with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and at The American Dance Festival at Duke University. He has performed choreography by Robert Battle and Mark Dendy. Mr. Cano is an active dancer for The Kennedy Dancers and Calpulli Dance Company. He has appeared in Gossip Girl, Law and Order SVU, and the HBO movie The Normal Heart, among other television programs. Eli is a recipient of the Iconic Award, and he loves teaching the young about the arts and dance. Mr. Cano lives in New York City. 

Crystal Deosaran began her training as a dancer with Calpulli and is a performer with the company since 2010. She has traveled and performed with Calpulli nationally and internationally in places like Lincoln Center, Jacob's Pillow, and the Kingdom of Bahrain. She has learned from wonderful directors and teachers such as Alberto Lopez, Grisel Pren, Juan Castano, Noemy Hernandez, Roberto Lara, Martha Zarate, Pilar Maez, and others.

Mario Alberto Flores started dancing Flamenco and Folklorico at the age of 14 at the Vidal M. Treviño School of Communications and Fine Arts in Laredo, Texas. After high school, Mario attended Texas State University where he acquired a BFA in Dance and was part of the Artistic Staff for the student-led dance company, Orchesis Dance Company. Mario moved to NYC in 2016 and has since been part of the dance community by working at the nonprofit dance organization, Gibney, and dancing with Calpulli Mexican Dance Company. 

Cindy Garcia started dancing at the age of seven at Callina's Classical School of Ballet in Astoria, NY. She went to CUNY, Queens College and earned a BA in Drama Theatre and Dance, where she had the opportunity to study with Professor Edisa Weeks and Yin Mei. She was part of the Queens College competitive dance team. In 2014, she participated in ACDFA (American College Dance Festival Association) representing Queens College with her choreographed flamenco piece "Cinco Flores," and was awarded The Farah Marcelus Award for Choreography at Queens College. 

Yuritzi Govea started her dance career performing in jazz companies abroad in her country of Mexico. After graduating on a scholarship from Colegio Nacional de Danza Contemporanea in Queretaro City, she moved to New York City to continue her studies at the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance. She has danced with Epicentro Ensemble, Nijinsky Jazz Company, Millennium Dance Ensemble, Barcelo Resort Entertainment and the choreographers Mauricio Nava, Alejandro Chavez, Yasmin Hernandez, Luis Resendiz, Miguel Braganza, Whitney Hunter, Richard Pierlon, Kristy Sutton, Roberto Lara, Javier Dzul, and Francisco Graciano. Aside of her dance education, Yuritzi also holds a medical massage therapy degree from the Swedish Institute, and specializes in lymphedema therapy based on the philosophies of the Vodder School.

Adina Lopez played music from the age of 8 and continued until she was 18 years old. Thereafter, she began dance and joined Ballet Tierra Nueva Mexicana for 6 years. Adina is a dancer with Calpulli for 10 years. She credits many different artists who have helped her grow as a dancer and performer learning zapateado, skirtwork, ballet technique, and about dance theater from choreographers including Martha Zarate, Daniel Jaquez and Noemy Hernandez. She’s learned about the history of dances, different regional styles, and how to be a Teaching Artist from current Artistic Director, Alberto Lopez.

Isabella Vergara is a dancer, yoga teacher, filmmaker from Westfield, New Jersey. Isabella  graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.F.A. in dance from Mason Gross School of The Arts at Rutgers University. She has performed nationally at the Kennedy Center, Jacob’s Pillow, The Joyce Theater, and The Apollo, as well as internationally in the Philippines, China, and Taiwan. Throughout her career She has performed work by artists such as Yvonne Rainer, Martha Graham, Lar Lubovitch, Pam Tanowitz, and Maxine Doyle. Isabella is a freelance dancer in the greater New York area, performing regularly with Calpulli Mexican Dance Company and OCA Dance. 

Agostina Mocibob is a professional dancer from Cordoba, Argentina. She began her studies in ballet with Ballet Sandra Racedo,and contemporary dance with Mariana Massera, as well as participating in many dance competitions all over the country. To further her commitment to danza, Agostina then moved to Buenos Aires' world renowned Instituto Superior de Arte Teatro Colon. Where she studied ballet, modern, folcklore, flamenco and character dance. She then moved to NYC to study at The Ailey School, and Tango with Dardo Galletto. Worked with the Ballet Estable Teatro Colon directed by Lidia Segni.She also was part of The Table of Silence in 2018, directed by Jacqulyn Buglisi performed at The Lincoln Center Plaza. Agostina danced with Ajkun Ballet Theater in New Rochelle and NYC. She also worked on a short film, Coda, directed by Justine Browning. Agostina danced with Compania Nueva Linea back in Argentina, and is currently dancing with Dardo Galletto Dance, Benjamin Briones Ballet, and Calpulli Mexican Dance Company in NY. 

Carbin Palafox joined Calpulli Community when she was 7 years old and has been with Calpulli for almost 13 years. She went to William Cullen Bryant High School where she joined a dance club for a few months and learned a little bit of jazz and basic ballet technique. Currently, she is attending Hunter College, majoring in film. She may minor in theater or dance and has taken ballet courses at Hunter where she is learning more about the technique.

José María Rojas is a dancer and choreographer of Argentine folklore, ballet and contemporary dance. Born in Paraná, Entre Ríos, Argentina, José danced folkloric dance since he was six years old and since then has participated in many renowned festivals in Argentina as well as different companies around the country. Jose's passion for dance encouraged him to develop other dance techniques such as ballet, jazz, contemporary and tango, which afforded him the opportunity to train with world renowned dance instructors. In 2015 José received a full scholarship for the contemporary jazz summer course at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City, during which he then received a full-year scholarship for said institution. Currently, José is a dancer for Calpulli Mexican Dance Company, a teaching Artist for Ballet Hispánico, and a dancer for the American Swiss Ballet Company and Connecticut Ballet. 

Miguel Ceron began his dance career with ballet folklorico at the age of 9, learning with a family run group in San Diego and sparking an interest and hunger for dance that he sporadically fed through school shows and multicultural organizations. He revisited folklorico in college, even running the Harvard Ballet Folklorico de Aztlan for 2 years, and dabbled in other dance styles which stimulated a desire to invest time in training and improving his dance skills. In New York, he found Latin dance and immersed himself in learning and training as a "salsero" and "bachatero", with short stints in ballet, tango, hip-hop and fusion styles until eventually finding his way back to folklorico with Calpulli.

Lucero Velazquez began to dance Folklorico at the age of 6 in Cholula, Puebla. She then moved back to New York and joined Ballet Xochiquetzal where she danced for 4 years and later joined Ballet Nueva Juventud. She credits Rita Martinez, Erick Modesto, Alberto Lopez, and Juan Castaño for her development in dance. She is currently working on her dance minor at Hunter college where she continues her ballet training amongst other dance forms.

Juan Castaño co-founded Calpulli Mexican Dance Company with the vision of celebrating and serving the Mexican community across the USA. Mr. Castaño, a native of El Paso, Texas, holds an MBA in Management and a BA in Chemistry from Grinnell College. There he also began his studies of folk dance with student instructor Alicia Gonzalez. He continued his training in NYC with several choreographers most notably Noemy Hernandez, Daniel Jaquez, and Alberto Lopez. With over 20 years of folk dance experience, Mr. Castaño is a Master Teacher with the Young Arts Foundation and dance educator in NYC. In recent years, he began choreographing works for several of Calpulli’s productions. Most recently he completed two research projects in Mexico with Master Dance Teachers Orquidea Gessel Figueroa and Elias Guerra. 

Grisel Pren Monje was born and raised in Cancun, Mexico and always had a strong, passionate love for dance. She began dance training at a young age in local dance studios and the Casa de la Cultura Mexico. She was a professional dancer and entertainer in many of the Resorts in the Riviera Maya. Beginning in 2007, she studied at Broadway Dance Center under the International student program, Steps on Broadway, and The Alvin Ailey School. She performed with Arthur Aviles Typical Theater Company, Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, Legros Cultural Arts, and appeared as a dancer in music videos produced by Weras Music and Tiny Baby Giants. Ms. Pren Monje made her Off Broadway debut in 2012 with “Zapata! The Musical” at the New York Musical Festival, where she played the role of Curandera and served as Dance Captain and Assistant to the Choreographer.  Her training, teaching and performance skills are varied among Classical Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Mexican Folk Dance and many Latin styles. She is currently a Teaching Artist with the Society of the Educational Arts and, most recently, she completed the Mexican Folk Dance Teacher certification from the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico de Amalia Hernandez.