30th Anniversary of the Guadalupe Dance Company's First Performance

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Madam Speaker, it is with great honor that I rise today in celebration of the Guadalupe Dance Company's 30th anniversary of its first performance on September 15, 1991. The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center founded the Guadalupe Dance Company in 1991 through a collaboration with the City of San Antonio and the lnstituto Cultural de Mexico.

The Guadalupe Dance Company was created to build and promote a professionally-trained Mexican Folkloric Dance Company to represent South Texas, and has grown to be a premier professional dance company in the region.

The Guadalupe Dance Company was brought to life with cultural activists, community leaders and master artists led by then Executive Director Pedro Rodriguez. With dancers from in and around the San Antonio area, the Company debuted its first performance to a full house for the Citysponsored Grito Ceremony on September 15, 1991 at the Lila Cockrell Theatre.

In 1994, Maestro Rafael Zamarripa was commissioned to create, choreograph and fully stage Rio Bravo, an original production telling the story of South Texas through a chronology of dance and music. With a cast of over 25 dancers, musicians and stage and film star Jesse Borrego, Rio Bravo helped set the course for the dance company. The Guadalupe Dance Company continues to create original productions as well as its ongoing First Friday events and staple annual productions which include Historias y Recuerdos, Dia de los Muertos, Alma de Mujer, Pastorela Folklorica and Celebrando Tradiciones.

The 30th Anniversary Celebration features the Guadalupe Dance Company and Mariachi Azteca de America. It will commemorate 30 years of dance, success, and evolution with repertoire from various states of Mexico. I am proud to honor the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, and its remarkable impact on San Antonio, and I look forward for many performances to come.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source