On Wednesday, October 15, Ayala was visited by bright colors and enveloping music, marking the end of an important period of time. With the end of Hispanic Heritage Month, Ayala participated in several events to celebrate this time, including a door decorating competition and an Afro-Latino exhibit in the library. Not only did Ayala have these events to honor Hispanic Heritage month, but the Chino High School Folklorico Club was also invited to give a beautiful and vivid performance.

Hispanic Heritage Month lasts from September 15 to October 15, which honors the history, contributions, and culture of Hispanic and Latino Americans whose ancestors have come from Mexico, Spain, the Caribbean, and South America. In its beginning, it started as Hispanic Heritage Week but was expanded to a whole month by Ronald Reagan in 1988. Additionally, folklorico dance is a term for a variety of traditional Mexican folk dances performed in a theatrical style, blending both indigenous and Spanish influences.

For many students, this was a performance unlike any others, filling them with joy. Ayala has had its fair share of cultural dances throughout the years. However, it has never been like this. Many students have not seen folklorico dancing or seen it being done by others from a completely different school. Although the students were from a different school, it did not mean that they could not put on an amazing performance.

“I thought that the performance definitely was very interesting and embracing of the cultural heritage of many Hispanics around the world,” Francela Guerra (10) said. “It was very beautiful to see as it showed so many different people coming together for a performance.”

This dance was a vibrant performance so different from others that have been done at Ayala. At Ayala there is a wide variety of performing arts and several different cultural clubs that have done performances as well. Through this representation of culture and inviting others to our school is extremely unique being a symbol of community.

“It was different from the other performances done at lunch because there were more performers and more interactive because people could join in,” Nathaly Tiznado (10) said. “It was really cool to see that Ayala was able to have another group of students come to our school.”

Not only was this a beautiful performance, but it was interesting to see another school’s club come into Ayala to display different cultures. The Chino High School Folklorico Club is a student-led club where all student members are taught the dance by other students.

“I think this was a good opportunity to introduce new ideas as well as a new culture to our school and fellow students” Caroline Henderson (10) said. “It’s interesting to see how Chino High School differentiates from our own and it can help us grow as a school too by implementing different cultures into events and performances. Hopefully we get to see more performances like these in our school and maybe even with Ayala students performing.”