Ballet Folklorico Mexico Lindo Idaho!

Cinco de Mayo 2026 was one for the books! 🎉🇲🇽❤️ From dancing on the famous Blue Turf at BSU with Mariachi Cantares de Mexico, (my former dancers- talk about proud Maestra!) to Lalo Cantina Eagle, Boise Music Week, TRICA, the Village in Meridian and a packed house at the Indian Creek Plaza in downtown Caldwell, the energy was infectious! Thank you to everyone who came out to support us, we absolutely LOVE seeing you there! ❤️ Thank you for the opportunity to share our time and talents with everyone. We can’t wait to do it again!

April 17, 2018. I didn’t know that the Nampa State of the City address for (then) Mayor Debbie Kling would be the last time I would perform. It was a great night. So much joy. The very next morning, I would host an outreach at The College Of Idaho, where I worked as the Education Director for Caldwell Fine Arts. I would teach a dance that I’ve done @ least 1000 times. I would partner with a football player and I would hold his arm. He would turn to the left, and I would turn to my right. And the entire room would hear a massive *POP*. Immediately I fall, and he would catch me, and my life as I knew it up until that very minute was over forever. I would try to stand on 2 feet but I can’t, and I sink to the floor. I would be rushed to a doctor‘s office where they couldn’t help me. I go into shock from the pain. Eventually, I am taken to a hospital in Caldwell, where I have an x-ray and an MRI and it’s confirmed that I completely tore my right Achilles tendon. By the time I get home I am in excruciating pain and yet I still don’t comprehend the severity of my accident. I don’t have surgery. I don’t go to PT. Instead, my foot and my leg are in a full cast, and I immediately have to learn how to fend for myself. I cannot stand. I cannot walk. I cannot drive. I can’t even take a shower. As a mother, I don’t understand how I’m going to care for my children. As a dancer, I don’t understand how I’m going to continue doing what I love. I fall into a deep depression, and I have to learn to rely on myself. Crawling becomes my norm. Healing physically/ mentally/ and emotionally takes everything out of me. I honor my commitment to my dancers and my family to still perform in Seattle. Cinco de Mayo 2018 was definitely one for the books. I agree that I will perform again for La Virgen de Guadalupe. And I did. Healing didn’t look like what I had imagined. Fast forward to April 18, 2025. My life is SO DIFFERENT. I perform at Disneyland with my dancers! I am able bodied- just not like before. But I’M HERE. And I’m still healing. Emotionally, mentally, and physically. And I am so grateful for that. ❤️‍🩹

Rest in peace, Nampa Mayor, Rick Hogaboam. This picture was taken in June 2018 at my dance studio when it was located in downtown Nampa. My studio had been vandalized repeatedly over a period of four days, and Rick came by to see me and talk to me and ask how I was feeling and how he could help. (See slide #2) He was the pastor of his own church at the time, and they too had been vandalized. I will never forget his compassion and kindness when he spoke. He listened, he understood, and he prayed with me before he left. Now I will pray for him and lift him and his family up in prayer the way he did for me. My dance studio may not be located in Nampa anymore, but you never forget good people when they leave such a lasting impression on your heart. Sleep in the eternal peace of Christ, friend. You will be missed. 💔

“Dime Con Quién Andas, Y Te Diré Quién Eres”. When I tell you that I am so grateful to have been in community with these amazing people last night in Boise, I mean every word of it! Thank you so much to .idaho and .collective.boise for the opportunity to have participated in Artists for Aid; where we gathered in Boise at to share BIPOC art, poetry, song, speeches, laughter, pride, and love, all to help those affected by ice and immigration injustice. It was a beautiful event and I’m so grateful and so humbled to have participated. When the rest of the world seems to be falling apart in front of our eyes, and we feel helpless to know what to do next, I am reminded that there are VERY good people in this world who absolutely DO give a damn, and will use their art and their words as resistance. There is a beautiful African proverb that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” ✊🏽💥 ADELANTE, GENTE. Siempre adelante.

Thank you Shootz for the beautiful pictures of us during the Boise Festival of Trees! These photos are incredible and I will treasure them forever. Thank you so much for being there and sharing our day! ❤️🎄✨