Fiacro Castro

Born in the state of Veracruz, México, Maestro Fiacro Castro has danced since childhood, and was already teaching at the high school (“secundaria”) level, when he was sixteen years of age. His first teacher-mentor of Mexican Folklórico dance was Leopoldo Garcia, also from Veracruz. He studied under various other masters, such as Rafael Samarripa, Miguel Veles Arceo and José Luis Cardenas Quidarte, and at the Escuela de Danza Azueta (Azueta Dance School) and Escuela de Danza Macuiltochtli. He danced with the Ballet de la Universidad Veracruzana, Ballet del Estado de Tabasco, Instituto de Cultura de Puebla, Ballet de Bellas Artes de Tamaulipas, La Magisterial of Veracruz, Puebla and Tamaulipas. In the United States, he studied choreography, history and dance at the National Louis University in Chicago, later becoming a teacher of Folklórico. He taught Folklórico at Santa Monica City College, East LA College, and the University of Santa Barbara, covering a decade of work as a teacher, and with City of Los Angeles Parks and Recreation, since 1995. He is the founder of the Grupo Folklórico Xhanat, and more recently of Grupo Folklórico Misantla. He has performed with his groups at many venues such as Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, Norris Theater in Palos Verdes, and at events such as the re- opening of LA’s historic Million Dollar Theater, the Grito de Independencia, at Huntington Park, Lynwood, City of Los Angeles, and as dancer in Washington DC, among many others. He’s currently Procession Director of the Hollywood Forever Dia de los Muertos festivities. As an investigator, he’s researched and studied at first hand dances from the Tarahumaras, such as the Huahuas or Voladores in Veracruz region, and from the Totonacapán in the northern area of the state. He has specialized in the dances of the Huasteca, Veracruzana, and Sotavento dances, and Caribbean influenced dances in Veracruz, such as the Mambo and the Danzón. Maestro Fiacro has also taught and performed dances from various other regions of Mexico, from Jalisco to Yucatan.

Quetzal Flores

Quetzal Flores is a Chican@ musician, producer and cultural strategist/organizer raised in East Los Angeles.  Born to activist parents, Consuelo Valdez and Roberto Flores, he inherited a deep rooted accountability to community and social justice.   Under the tutelage of Lorenzo “Lencho” Martinez(Texmaniacs), Russell Rodriguez(Professor of Music, UC Santa Cruz) and Ramon Gutierrez Hernandez(Son de Madera), Quetzal has studied multiple forms of Mexican traditional music.   He is the founder and musical director of the Grammy Award winning Chican@ band, Quetzal.  From the experiences generated through his family, mentors and the Chican@ arts&cultural community he has participated in multiple moments of radical transformation.  In 1997 he co-organized the historic Encuentro Cultural Chican@/Indigena Por La Humanidad en Contra del Neoliberalismo, a week long dialogue/retreat in the mountains of Chiapas, Mexico. The Encuentro gathered 100 arts&culture practitioners from East Los Angeles and Mayan Zapatistas that developed multiple outward facing emancipatory cultural methodologies with tangible touchdowns into community practice. In 2000 Quetzal was part of a group of artists from East LA who built important transnational and trans local relationships with fandango communities in Veracruz.  Through these relationships an important network was formed that has given way to a current thriving national system of fandango practitioners in the US.  In 2009 Quetzal co-founded the Seattle Fandango Project (SFP), a participatory music and dance community instrumental in providing an intergenerational space for people of color throughout Seattle.  In 2012, he co-founded FandangObon, a yearly event that brings Los Angeles Chican@, Japanese and African American communities together around participatory music and dance practices.  Since 2012 Quetzal has served as a Program Manager for the Alliance for California Traditional Arts(ACTA). He co-designed, curated the pilot and built to scale the now robust Arts in Corrections program where traditional artists from across the state are cultivating spaces for healing and connection with incarcerated people.  In addition he co- developed and manages the traditional artist fellowship for ACTA’s health and equity work in Boyle Heights.  As a producer, Quetzal has contributed over 100 recordings with artists such as; Son de Madera, Jose Luis Orozco, Nobuko Miyamoto, B-Side Players, Alice Bag, Maya Jupiter, Aloe Blacc and Susana Baca.  As a songwriter, he has contributed over 100 compositions and has established a unique and influential voice that has impacted younger artists like La Santa Cecilia.  From 2013 to 2019 he served as a board member for the Smithsonian Folkways Recorders.  From 2016 to 2020 he worked as the Director of Cultural Vitality for the East LA Community Corporation. Currently, Quetzal is the co-founder and Director of Cultural Power for the Community Power Collective(CPC), overseeing internal and external facing cultural processes to build power with low-income tenants and workers through transformative, cross-sectoral organizing.

Crystal Hagiel Frutos

“The most alluring thing a woman can have is confidence.” – Beyonce “The minute you learn to love yourself you won’t want to be anyone else.” – Rihanna I believe there is beauty in every aspect of Art and Culture. From the sound of the music to the sound of the dance steps. From the details in the attire to the creativity in makeup and hair. It’s All Art! And it is Beautiful. My name is Crystal Frutos and I am a proud daughter of Mexican parents. I have always loved to dance. Since I was 4 years old, I liked to get into Zumba classes with my mom and I really enjoy dancing. I see dance as a beautiful art form that allows every individual to express themselves and has no limitations. My first experience in something more professional was in a folklorico group. I have danced ballet folklorico since I was 8 years old. At age 10 I also took Samba classes and also practiced the martial arts and dance of Capoeira. At the age of 16, I took technique classes to dance bachata, salsa, and merengue. All my life I have been involved in dance activities, music, and different cultures. I also sing, play the violin, and write music, and play in percussion groups (drums), and many things like that. I have had multiple opportunities to play in several concerts with orchestras and music groups. One of those Includes the CSU Long beach Orchestra for Honors Festivals. Have performed Folklorico at DisneyLand with my Folkloric group and Professor Rolando Reyes. And all that is a bit of me and my experience in the world of dance and music. I am proud of all my accomplishments thus far and am planning to continue to grow and learn more art forms along my journey as a Performer, Singer, Musician and Dancer.

Arlene Santos

For over 15 years, Arlene the Salsa Queen has shared her passion and love for Salsa and Latin Dance with the community as a skilled teacher, performer, choreographer and coach.  She is the owner of Lumina Academy of Dance, a charming community dance studio in Pasadena and Co- Founder of Queer Latin Dance LA, one of the only Queer Latin Dance spaces and Dance Companies in LA County.  While teaching technique, dance etiquette and lead and follow concepts Arlene emphasizes and focuses on the main rules in learning to dance – smile, be joyful, be yourself and have Fun! Let Arlene the Salsa Queen guide you in your dance journey and let magic of dance take over.