My experience

On February 25^th, 2000 the Molina High School Ballet Folklórico Jaguara performed selected numbers from their evening concert, Tambores: A Celebration of the Music and Dance of the African Diaspora, in the school African History Assembly.  Comments made following the performance by some African American students and faculty made me aware of the critical need for cultural and historical instruction. 

An African American teacher on the Molina faculty was quoted as saying, “I don’t know why those Hispanic students are doing that Mexican dance in this assembly.”  The Mexican dance that the teacher referred to was the merengue, the national dance of the Dominican Republic, a country located on the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispanola in the Caribbean Sea.  The six million inhabitants of the island are primarily mulatos, persons of mixed black and white ancestry or blacks of pure African ancestry.
 

It is a mark of ignorance to assume that the African Diaspora legacy is limited to the music and dance of the United States.  It is also a mark of ignorance to assume that persons of Hispanic origin do not have a African heritage of their own to share during a Celebration of African American Cultural Heritage.  Molina High School's population was 84.5% of Hispanic origin. To perform only the dances of North America was to discriminate against 84.5% of the students. In a planning meeting, I was met with resistance by the multicultural committee. When I said, "Mexico is a part of North America," a couple of faculty members gave me hateful looks.

During the process of producing Tambores, I was surprised to learn how many of my students did not know that there were African slaves in Central and South America as well as in the Caribbean.  Our trips to the library were exciting excursions as students discovered facts for the lecture.  Following the assembly, all of us felt rededicated to our mission, to present programs that provide cultural enrichment and that promote better human relations. 
 

Following the disappointing response from some faculty and students. the dance students were asked to compose a letters to the editor of the school newspaper. I read the letters and highlighted thoughtful comments. The letters containing the most thought provoking comments were given to the best writer in my classes, who in turn composed a letter representing the sentiments and thoughts of the entire dance group. The letter was published in the school newspaper. The principal read the letter in a meeting of all the department chairs. Over a period of years, the attitude changed. Hispanic students became welcomed participants in the African American Assembly. 
 

During all our concerts including Tambores, each dance number was preceded by a bilingual introduction. By teaching the students had an opportunity to learn. The content of the introductions prepared by the students served to educate the students as well as the audience.

Bilingual Introductions Involved all students and all parents.

Two Infocus projectors were used. One Infocus projected a PowerPoint in English and a second simultaneously projected a PowerPoint in Spanish. In the interest of time, introductions were read in only one language. Students alternated reading in English and Spanish. Our introductions were bilingual because Molina High School was 84.5% Hispanic. 

Spanish introductions allowed students who were at the beginning stages of English acquisition to participate; it also helped parents who were not fluent in English to feel welcome. Translating the English to Spanish and the Spanish to English was a way to create community by making students with dissimilar skills dependent on one another. The Spanish only, the bilingual and the English only students each were able to make valuable contributions in the process. 

Opportunities for Community Involvement

Translating also offered opportunities to involve the Spanish honor students, as well as faculty and people in the community.
 

Liz Gallego
Director of Ballet Folklorico Jaguara
Molina High School, Dallas, Texas
1997-2007

Ms. Gallego, retired from her position at Molina High School in 2007 to produce teaching materials to facilitate multicultural education.