Chicano Theater Innovators: Cholorock Dance Theater

​I recorded the video of this very special dance troupe at the City of Edinburg auditorium. The concept here is such a statement that I thought it was definitely worth posting and sharing. I was brought up on a healthy dose of this type of music. To hear it in a theater production accompanying the dance moves of two graceful and elegant young dancers was just such a surprise and a delight. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

I had never paired this music with dancing of this sort. But I was also proud to see that something that to me had been so cemented in my childhood days as a manifestation of male-dominated, rancho-life, and alcohol flowing genre of Mexican Spanish language music now is being transformed into a much more elastic and versatile vehicle for the expression of dance. Not only that, but it is being done on a stage where before I had never seen that music played. And I mean "a stage" in a general sense, for the stage at the Edinburg City auditorium to me represents a platform for the higher arts. The ones that may be associated with a more distant, disconnected culture (think red wine and cheese) than those stages at the pulga (swap meet) where this kind of music might be much more of the expected norm (think tacos and espiro papas).

It was a real treat and a rare occasion to see a dance troupe perform this and other beautiful routines that truly touched me. They took me back to my childhood past and brought me back to an adulthood present full of possibilities for the arts in the Rio Grande Valley.

If you wish to know more about this group contact Jose Zamora at jzamoradance.com or visit their CholoRock Facebook page. ​