Bay Area Cuicacalli dance group excited to debut at San Francisco Carnaval

CBS News

22-05-2025

Connection is at the core of Cuicacalli: connection to the rhythm, to the Earth below, to an individual's culture.
And this year, Jesus Cortes and his students will get to connect with a crowd they've never had the chance to connect with before.
"I always work to bring my culture to the highest point that I can," Cortes said. "To me, it's a fabulous honor to be able to bring this culture, my culture, to San Francisco."
For the first time, Cortes and his students will get to perform their Mexican Folklorico dance routine in the Carnaval Parade.
"We have about 50 dancers who are going to be performing with us," he said. "We are super excited to now go and take the streets with Carnaval San Francisco here in the Mission District."
Many of his students have been with him since he started the dance group in 2007. Fernanda Mercado is one of his students who has been with him since the early days of Cuicacalli – She started when she was 5 years old.
"Dance is just my passion. It's what I want to do forever," she said.
Mercado said it will be an honor to perform in the parade this year.
"It's going to feel amazing," she said.
She is especially proud of her connection to what people in the crowd will see Cuicacalli perform.
"I'm really excited to showcase a choreography I'm making for one of our Carnaval pieces," Mercado said. "That's really exciting for me, to be able to choreograph a dance."
It's safe to say Cortes is proud of his students.
"Some of them now are in college, some of them are already professional dancers," he said. "My goal is that through dance, through the culture, they can maintain and sustain their identity and feel proud of who they are."
Come parade day, Cortes said Cuicacalli will complement Carnaval's colorful collage of cultures.
"It's going to be amazing to be a part of the parade," he said.