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By: Janessa Castro Cruz

2024 Cinco de Mayo Festival. Taken on 5 May 2024 by: Missvain. Via Wikimedia Commons

Cinco de Mayo is a holiday that celebrates the date of the Mexican army’s victory over France at the battle of Puebla on May 5th, 1862. The battle started with Benito Juarez in 1861; he was elected president of Mexico and the country was in financial ruin due to years of internal strife. The new president was forced to not pay debt payments to European governments and France, Britain, and Spain sent forces to Veracruz, Mexico demanding payment because of that.

Spain and Britain had negotiated with Mexico but France took the decision to make an empire out of Mexican territory. French troops were sent to attack a small town in Puebla. Juarez got his soldiers that were about 2,000 – 5,000 of them, and sent them to Puebla.

The battle didn’t last for very long but when the French retreated, they had lost almost 500 soldiers and before they had about 6,000. France withdrew a while after the battle. Although there wasn’t really a win in the battle, the success of the battle represents a good symbolic victory and strengthened the resistance movement.

Cinco de Mayo is mostly celebrated in Puebla where it all happened, and some other parts of Mexico also celebrate it. A lot of the traditions have military parades, recreations of the battle and a lot of other festive events.

The day is confused with Mexico’s Independence Day on September 16, and that is more of a nationwide holiday while Cinco de Mayo is just regional.

The day gained popularity in the United States and started rising in the 70s as another day to celebrate Mexican pride and culture among Mexican immigrants to encourage pride in their Mexican heritage. And so that is how Cinco de Mayo, which is just a regional holiday in Puebla, Mexico, became a cultural celebration in the United States.

Ballet Folklórico is one of the many ways to express Mexican culture. Ballet Folklórico is a dance that represents all of the regions in Mexico; therefore, it has many different types of dances, clothing, and music within the category.

These dances were practiced and performed as early as the 17th century and started to become more popular in the 18th century, after the War of Independence.

The most popular and widely known type of Folklorico is the Folklorico dances of Jalisco. A traditional Folklorico Jalisco dress is made of a fabric called poplin. The colors of the dresses are strong such as red, Mexican pink, and yellow. The shirt part of the dress has sleeves that go up to the elbow. Both the skirt and the dress are decorated with ribbons that match the dress.

The men wear a typical charro suit which is made up of long tight pants with decorations on the sides. Along with the pants there is a matching jacket and silk tie. They also wear a wide-brimmed hat, or sombrero, with the outfit.

All Folklorico dances consist of a lot of movement of the whole body. There is a lot of footwork, legwork, use of the torso, and armwork. In many dances the ladies use their skirts with coordination and elegance to produce beautiful waves of color emanating from their dresses.

There are many groups all around the world that teach the wonders of Ballet Folklorico that usually focus on all the different types of dances from all the regions in Mexico. Joining a group allows one to connect with their Mexican culture or learn of Mexican culture, and this makes learning Ballet Folklorico all the more fun.