Queensboro Dance Festival celebrates borough's culture and community
A mechanic by day, Felix Perez sits at the sewing machine after work, turning traditional Mexican fabrics into dresses and skirts. The garments are costumes for Manhatitlan, a dance group made up of his family and friends.
"When I see the ladies and my daughters dancing with these garments, I feel so happy," the Puebla native said.
Focusing on regional Mexican folkloric styles, Manhatitlan brings generations together.
"We don't get to go to Mexico as often as we would like to, and so with this, we bring a little piece of home to our home," daughter Jazmin Perez-Carvente said. "My parents helped us with it, and my sister, she was like the brains of the whole project."
The sisters recruit new members through church, school and work.
"It's a project, but it's also a community," daughter Karla Perez said.
"Everybody's welcome," mother Rosalba Perez said.
Manhatitlan is one of 21 groups in this year's Queensboro Dance Festival, a series of free shows ranging from Indian classical to Chinese contemporary, popping up at plazas and in parks across the borough all summer long.
"We wanted to be a platform that represented the underrepresented dance cultures here," festival founder Karesia Batan said. "We are reflecting the cultures in every neighborhood that we're in as a point of connection but as well as a place for cultural exchange."
Jazmin Perez-Carvente says the festival has helped Manhatitlan grow.
"The Queensboro Dance Festival gives us exposure to whole other communities, and they find interest," she said.
Sharing her culture through dance has brought her closer to her roots.
"I feel more alive and proud," she said.
The festival began June 7 and runs through Sept. 13. To find out more about performances, visit queensborodancefestival.org.
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