CHICO — With a burst of color, some catchy music and beats, and a lot of well-practiced movement, performers of ballet folklorico at Chico’s Rosedale Elementary School present an exciting form of dance to the cultural mix.
Thanks to the efforts of Maria Trenda, a native Mexico and a resident of California since 1996, ballet folklorico is a hit among children eager to learn it. Along the path of its evolution locally, the program has enjoyed tremendous support of parents, school officials and, now, the Chico Unified School District. Trenda said the district is sponsoring the program after years when the dancers received support largely from selling cookies, popsicles and tamales, as well as donations and participation fees.
Combining regional Mexican influences with traditional costumes, the style of dance offers an exotic combination of sight and sound characteristic of Central America.
Trenda — whose home city was Puebla, about 60 miles southeast of Mexico City — warmly recalled how ballet folklorico has been an integral part of her life.
“I’ve always done it,” said Trenda, who also owns and operates Mi Escuelita Maya preschool in Chico. “It was part of my educational background. I got older and became a dancer, and then I learned how to teach it.”
The critical moment for the style of dance in Chico, however, occurred when Trenda’s daughter, Maya, was a student at Rosedale, a dual-immersion school at 100 Oak St., where students learn in both English and Spanish.
“There was no dancing program at Rosedale, and I had the idea to do something that would really reach the community,” Trenda explained. “My daughter was my inspiration, but I wasn’t part of any ballet folklorico at that moment.”
Trenda approached Tim Cariss, Rosedale’s principal at the time, with the idea of establishing a program. Cariss was interested in the concept, Trenda recalled, “but nothing really happened.” Then Jo Ann Bettencourt — Rosedale’s current principal — arrived in August 2015, and her guidance proved to be just the tonic the program needed.
Even then, “we had to be creative about funding,” Trenda said, but Bettencourt supported and approved highly successful after-school fundraisers that allowed the dance program to thrive. The program used the funds in part to purchase authentic ballet folklorico costumes, complete with blouses and colorful skirts for the girls, as well as decorative shirts and hats for the boys.
“When it started, the Rosedale PTA was sponsoring it, but over the years it morphed into something mostly funded through fundraising,” Bettencourt said. “In the beginning, she took anyone who applied, even though we (the school officials) said there’d be a lottery” for the selection of participants.
Chico Unified’s BLAST program — the after-school enrichment program at certain school sites, including Rosedale — funds the dance this year by way of a grant, meaning ballet folklorico charges no tuition this year.
“About half the students who are part of ballet folklorico are in the after-school program,” Bettencourt said.
Trenda said she’s enormously grateful toward the support the group has received.
“We had the wonderful support of parents and the administration, and of course a really solid group of students came together,” Trenda said. “Parents had to pay a fee to be a part of it and this made it sustainable.
“We didn’t have shoes or skirts or anything. Sometimes we were able to sponsor someone on scholarship; sometimes (Rosedale) PTA helped us,” she said. “But mostly it was fundraising and the hard work of families.”
‘Amazing opportunity’
Rosedale’s ballet folklorico started in September 2015 with classes held in the school’s cafeteria. As funding increased, the group was able to hold practices at Chico Creek Dance Center, 1144 W. First St., directly across the street from the school. It holds practices Mondays through Thursdays, with two days at Rosedale, working on technique and footwork, and two days at Chico Creek to learn choreography.
There is a waiting list for students to get into the program, a testament to its success and popularity. Bettencourt said there are approximately 60 kids involved right now — 12 from each grade level of kindergarten through fifth.
As happened to just about every program across the nation and around the world, the coronavirus put a halt to ballet folklorico in 2020 — idling practices and performances. However, when things resumed in the 2022-23 school year, CUSD designated the group as part of its after-school program.
In addition to the district support, Chico Creek donated a large quantity of tap shoes to Rosedale’s ballet folklorico troupe, allowing many of the student dancers to use them in practices and performances.
Finally, the fundraising bounty allowed Trenda — by way of a contact she has in Mexico — to purchase authentic costumes.
“It is a big part of the gift to the children, being able to wear clothes like that, but also to the community for sharing the authentic experience,” Trenda said.
Ballet folklorico is also available to the wider community, Trenda said. Frances Miranda coordinates a group whose members are mostly adults, though children can participate as well. The group practices at Mi Escuelita Maya, 1455 Chestnut St.
Trenda said she’s thrilled to have been able to establish and expand the program and looks forward to much more.
“I am so grateful to have had the amazing opportunity to create a program where we — students, parents, teachers and our whole community — can learn, celebrate and honor authentic Mexican roots through dance and music,” she said.
“She is very passionate about ballet folklorico,” Bettencourt said of Trenda. “She looks for lots of opportunities outside activities students engaged — such as the Thursday Night Market, parades, downtown events, at Chico State and the Butte County Office of Education.
“Maria has a very high standard,” Bettencourt added. “I say, ‘Just let them go out and look cute.’ Her style is to have them do it correctly.”
