PORT ANGELES — Feet skitter and slide, smiles and eyes flash, skirts swirl like a psychedelic ocean, roses ride atop high hairdos — altogether, the dancers dish out a message that transcends words.
It’s about delight in their Mexican culture, and about the variety of movement that spices the states: Jalisco, Sinaloa, Nuevo Leon, Zacatecas, Veracruz and Guerrero.
The Mexican Folk Dancers of Sequim, a four-year-old troupe led by Narciso Marcial and Vicky Barreda, gave their annual performance Saturday night in honor of today’s Mexican Independence Day — Sept. 16.
It was just before dawn on that date 198 years ago that Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang the bell of the village church in Dolores, in the state of Guanajuato, calling the Mexican people to fight for independence from Spain, which had ruled them for 10 generations.
Saturday night in Port Angeles — port of angels in Spanish — the dancers from Sequim celebrated a little early, with plentiful food from El Puerto de Angeles Restaurant, and music from romantic to ranchera.
And there was a farewell: to Carolina Garcia, 18, who is headed for Central Washington University later this month, and to Sandra Lopez, 19, who’ll become a full-time Peninsula College student next week.
Both women have grown up with the group, which has practices in a Sequim garage for three hours straight, two nights a week.
The dancers, who also include Jennifer Morelos, 13, Isabel Gallegos, 6, and Catherine Najera and Tatiana Vidals, both 5, learn too about the history and politics of their parents’ homeland, said Maria Pena, Peninsula College’s dean of student development and the host of Saturday’s event.
Between dances, Peña asked the performers’ parents to stand up and be recognized — and the audience gave them a round of applause.
She also saluted Marcial and Barreda, the dancers’ mentors. They do whatever needs to be done, sewing dozens of costumes, building a parade float out of boards taken from Marcial’s front porch, and rehearsing, rehearsing until every step, shoulder and hip move in harmony.
The 15-member troupe is “pretty much self-taught,” with some help from videos from Mexico, Peña said. And the men, including Abel Gallegos, Felipe Najera and Juan Segura, serve as teachers, dancers — and along with the young women, choreographers of contemporary dances.
Their pair of original works, “The Sandwich” and “El Barretero,” (the miner), had the blue-jeaned, cowboy-booted performers dipping, swinging and lifting one another in a showstopping mix of strength and grace.
The Mexican Folk Dancers of Sequim have performed in many venues, from the Clallam County Fair to the 150th anniversary of the New Dungeness Lighthouse.
And, Peña said, they are available for hire. For information, phone 360-417-6486.
———-
Sequim Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
