Folkl�rico dance season is just around the corner!
We're gearing up for our July and August folkl�rico workshops

Estimados,

Greetings from the team at �VivaFest!, where we are in the final countdown for our 2014 workshops. This is a special edition of our newsletter for our workshop community. Below is a message from Maria Luisa Colmenarez, our director of �VivaFest! 2014 Baile Folklrico Workshops, with information on schedules and more. We'll be back with a second special edition for mariachi workshop students.

Saludos,
Marcela


A message from Maria Luisa Colmenarez

Saludos �VivaFest'ers!

We are connecting to provide information for the July and August folkl�rico workshops.

If you have not registered for the 2014 workshops, don't delay! We have special activities in [image: Folklorico dancers] store this year that you won't want to miss! If you have already registered, thank you for submitting your online registration for �VivaFest! 2014.  

And a big THANK YOU goes out to our generous host groups at San Jose High School and Abraham Lincoln High School and their leaders Rosie Novotny and Missy Walters. For 2014, we are able to extend the folklrico workshop days into a true Folklrico Summer Intensive.  Whether or not we can sustain this endeavor in future years will rely totally on you and your active participation to encourage fellow dance-group members to register. �VivaFest! is dedicated to expanding the folklrico experience, and will be working closely with your group directors in the coming months to attain feedback and input for �VivaFest! 2015.

But for now, back to 2014 ...

If you registered and have not paid, that payment is due now.  We need your dollars to invest back into the project and bring you the exciting lineup that we have planned for you.  Please print out your festival confirmation and send along with a check to: �VivaFest! 255 North Market Street, Suite 246, San Jose, Ca. 95110.

You can also fax your application with credit card information to 408-920-6075, or call us at 408-920-6070 and we can process a credit card payment.

Please note that registration deadlines apply and that those rates go UP as time passes.  You can hang on to your $75 registration bracket by responding today.  Thank you for your prompt action.

Read on for this summer's full workshop schedule.

Saludos!

Maria Luisa Colmenarez
�VivaFest! 2014 Maestra & Folklrico Workshop Coordinator
[image: 2009 dance gala]
Dancers in festive costumes at our 2009 gala.
Our folklrico schedule

July 25, 26 & 27
Ages 14+, intermediate and advanced only. Please present your student body card onsite as proof of age.
275 N. 24th St., San Jos
9am-3pm Friday and Saturday
9-noon class plus 1pm recital and presentation of certificates on Sunday

Direct from Las Cruces, New Mexico, Maestro Jos Tena returns to San Jos! He and fellow instructor Maria Luisa Colmenarez will set the material for the �VivaFest! 2014 Jalisco Suite, a potpourri that includes El Gavilancillo, El Zopilote Viejo and El Cuervo. As an added bonus, Jos Tena will teach a Tamaulipas Norte suite with a polka, redova and shotis. Note: Male dancers, please bring sarapes AND gavanes. An .mp3 file for the Jalisco Suite will be distributed very soon.

July 28, 29 & 30
All ages, minimum two years dance experience.
Lincoln High School 
555 Dana Ave., San Jos
9am-noon
Morning sessions will include breakdown and review of the �VivaFest! 2014 Jalisco Suite along with tecnica of Jalisco footwork & skirtwork by Maestras Maria Luisa Colmenarez & Rosie Novotny. Afternoon sessions will be taught by guest Maestros Rudy Figueroa, Erik Noel Diaz & Rudy Garcia.

Monday, July 28
1:30-4pm
Rudy Figueroa: Son Veracruzano (fandango-style). Maestro Figueroa will teach a Son de a Monton, Son de Pareja, and speciality dances of the fandango. Note: Dancers, please bring a paleacate (handkerchief). Ladies will need a mid-calf-length skirt.

Tuesday, July 29
1:30-4pm
Erik Noel Diaz: Aguascalientes

Wednesday, July 30
1:30-4pm
Rudy Garcia: Partner dance relationship with special attention to men's styling. Multiple regions will be highlighted.  Male dancers, please bring Jalisco, Veracruz, Norte & Huapango hats.

Thursday, July 31
10am-3pm
Auditions for the White House Conference for Arts Education

Special for �VivaFest! 2014!!
�VivaFest! 2014 Mariachi and Folklorico education programs will be showcased on August 27 (evening) at the White House Conference for Arts Education in a prominent Bay Area venue that will be revealed during the workshops. Students enrolled in the workshops may audition.  Seventy students will be selected for this prestigious event. Read more about the event below.

Friday, August 1
10am to 2pm
A material review and tech rehearsal for �VivaFest! 2014 Concert with Mariachi Sol de Mexico and Silicon Valley Symphony. Dancer call time and detailed schedule will be shared during workshops.

The �VivaFest! 2014 Concert will be held on Friday evening at San Jos State University. This event will be free and open to the public.

There's so much more to announce this summer! Read on to learn more about the White House Conference for Arts Education, and to get a sneak peek of the upcoming festival.

 

 

�VivaFest! goes to Washington (via California)

 

Great news! Our mariachi education program will be highlighted at a national policy conference on music and arts education hosted by the White House Initiative for Educational Excellence for Hispanics in the San Francisco Bay Area this August 27 and 28!

 

We are thrilled to be included as a panel participant and co-planner of this very important discussion on the benefits of music and the arts and the importance of increasing access to arts education for Hispanic students. The Initiative will convene researchers, practitioners, community and philanthropy leaders, and other stakeholders to scale what works, leverage research to highlight the STEM linkages and focus on capacity building, particularly in emerging communities. 

 

[image: White House logo]

More great news: Our mariachi and ballet folklorico workshop students from our 2014 summer workshops will be able to audition to perform at this important national convening. Seventy students -- 35 musicians and 35 dancers -- will be selected to represent �VivaFest! at this national event. 

 

If you know of a student who would benefit from our "Big Fat Mariachi Summer Music Camp" this July and would like to audition for the White House conference, be sure to register for our mariachi workshops this summer!

 

And there's even MORE great news! We are almost halfway to our goal to raise $2,500 in scholarships for our mariachi workshops. We have just under 30 days to go. You can help us get to the goal line by making a pledge of as little as $10!

 

 

A special for students

  

Along with all this terrific news about our students, we also want to announce a special deal for students! The folks presenting Mariachi Vargas at the City National Civic on June 28 are making it more affordable for students to hear the Kings of Mariachi.

 

If you are a student with a valid student ID and would like to purchase $65 tickets at half price, send us an e-mail to info@mhcviva.org and we will take your order.   

 

 

Meet William Faulkner, master harp instrumentalist

 

A full schedule of �VivaFest! performing and visual arts activities will be announced in our next newsletter, but here is a "sneak peek" at one of our faculty artists: William Faulkner, master harp instrumentalist. Register for William's workshop here. 

 

William's interest in mariachi began in 1971 when he bought a Mariachi Vargas record in a flea market for 25�.  Shortly afterward, he began playing guitarr�n and vihuela. In 1979 he started playing harp in mariachi, and two years later was studying with Arturo Mendoza, a harpist with Mariachi Vargas from 1945 to 1995. William also travelled to Zapotiltic to meet Arturo's father, Jos� Mendoza, a noted harp soloist who also had played with Mariachi Vargas in the 1930s.  Since then, William has continued to play in the style typical of southern Jalisco and specialize in sones jaliscienses.


Wlliam was the director and harpist of Mariachi Mixtl�n from 1980 to 1998, and also has performed solo on Jalisco harp since 1983. He has performed with various other mariachis, notably Mariachi International from Tucson, Arizona, and Mariachi Cobre, taking stages throughout the Southwestern United States, Mexico and Spain. In Mexico, he has participated as a soloist in Fiestas de Octubre in Guadalajara, and performed in Zapopan, Tlaquepaque, Lagos de Moreno, Tequila, Zapotl�n el Grande, Zapotlanejo, Zaoptiltic, Autl�n, El Grullo, Sayula, Chapala, Ocotl�n, Tototl�n, and numerous other towns. He is the official harpist for the town of Tequila, and an adopted son of Zapotiltic.


William directed the musical workshops at the Mariachi Espectacular in Albuquerque from 1991 to 1995, and has given workshops in Guadalajara; Mexico City; San Jos�, California; Tucson, Arizona; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and San Antonio, Texas, as well as playing festivals in other cities. 

 

William prides himself on representing and teaching the traditional style of mariachi harp, and we can't wait to have him share it with us.

[image: William Faulkner and harp]
Harpist William Faulkner.

 

Funding for the Mexican Heritage Corporation and its programs such as �VivaFest! and its mariachi education program is provided in part through: a grant from the Office of Cultural Affairs of the City of San Jos�, The National Endowment for the Arts, The TomKat Charitable Trust, The Hewlett Foundation, The Union Bank Foundation, Wells Fargo Bank, MACYs, Southwest Airlines, Mundo Fox, earned revenue from �VivaFest! and from readers like YOU. THANK YOU. To learn more about all of our generous donors please visit www.vivafest.org/sponsors.

 

[image: donate now button]

  



About Mexican Heritage Corporation
The mission of the Mexican Heritage Corporation is to affirm, celebrate, and preserve the rich cultural heritage of the Mexican Community and showcase multicultural arts within the region.
 

 

Mexican Heritage Corporation 
Marcela Davison Avil�s
President and CEO
More Information: 877-MHC-VIVA