The renowned company Calpulli Mexican Dance Company will appear in person for the first time at Teatro Esperanza in Philadelphia on February 21, with a performance that honors the Indigenous dances, traditions, and cultures of Mexico through movement, music, and storytelling.
The name Calpulli, explained Executive Director and founder Juan Castaño, comes from Náhuatl, one of the languages of the Aztec Empire. The company was founded in 2003 in a small apartment in Jackson Heights, Queens, with a clear mission: to serve the artistic community. This was explained by Alberto López, Director of Arts Education and a founder: “It begins with a dream of serving the community, of creating a platform that gives incredible artists an opportunity. The dream of Calpulli is to be a large family: musicians, dancers, and artists creating community here in New York.”
Calpulli Mexican Dance Company focuses on Mexican folklore from a broad perspective, integrating pre-Hispanic roots, Hispanic influences, and contemporary elements. For Juan Castaño, dance is a powerful narrative tool: “We bring together the love we have for dance and folklore with the power of storytelling, to tell our own stories through dance.”
The performance is designed as a tribute to Mexico’s Indigenous communities, a country with more than 60 ethnic groups and native languages. Alberto López emphasized the program’s intention: “It’s about reclaiming and revisiting the traditional dances of the Indigenous or original peoples of Mexico. We created this program honoring those cultures, their dances, and traditions, with all the respect they deserve.”
The selection of the repertoire, though complex, is the result of more than two decades of artistic work: “This is our first step in exploring these ethnic groups within an Indigenous representation. We selected the dances we have worked with the most over the past 23 years, and that is the program we are bringing on February 21,” Castaño explained.
The cast is made up of five dancers and one narrator, in a more intimate format, yet full of emotion, color, and energy: “It’s a smaller-scale show, but there will be no lack of passion, costumes, or artistic strength,” Juan assured.
The central message of the performance is to reconnect with ancestral heritage: “I would love for us to learn from our ancestors; to value the blessings they left us. Preserving those traditions is, for me, an obligation. And I also hope that those who are not Mexican feel identified, because these roots belong to all of us,” López said.
Castaño echoed the impact he hopes the performance will have on audiences: “We want people to leave with more energy, artistic inspiration, and an educational element. Indigenous roots do not belong to a single country or language; they are the roots of all the Americas, and they unite us.”
The February 21 performance at Teatro Esperanza marks a special moment for the company, as it will be the first time this production has been presented outside of New York, with Philadelphia as its host city.
For ticket information:
https://www.esperanzaartscenter.us/