Los Lupeños de San José - History
Los Lupeños was co-founded in 1969 in San José, California, by Dr. Susan Cashion and Ramón Morones. The company began as a study-performance group of Mexican dance and culture, with assistance from Señor Daniel Galán, Consul General de México in San José, and Señora Guadalupe Suárez, a local civic leader in Mexican affairs.
Los Lupeños experienced rapid growth during its first decade by participating extensively in Mexican community activities throughout the San Francisco Bay area and, representing the City of San José at the Spokane World’s Fair and Carnaval in Veracruz. In 1972, Los Lupeños co-founded the Asociación Nacional de Grupos Folklóricos, and several years later participated in the creation of Danzantes Unidos, an annual California Mexican Dance Festival.
During this period, Los Lupeños was one of only a few California organizations representing the new genre of Mexican folklórico. In the 1950s, Amalia Hernández of Mexico City created a theatrical style of Mexican traditional dance, which she christened Ballet Folklórico. In the 1960s, Rafael Zamarripa of Guadalajara further advanced this fledgling art form of Mexican performance dance at the University of Guadalajara. Cashion and Morones, both students of Zamarripa, followed his philosophy of creating original choreographies and theatrical settings based on traditional Mexican dance.
In 1976, the company created and produced Mextizol, an original dance drama that featured guest actors from the El Teatro Campesino. Mextizol opened in San José, and later toured to Los Angeles, Albuquerque, Pueblo, Alamosa, Guadalajara, and Veracruz. After 10 years, Cashion and Morones resigned in 1979 and a quartet of dancers (Rudy Figueroa, Noé Montoya, Elena Robles, and Victor Salazar) inherited the responsibility for the Company’s artistic direction. In 1981, Elena Robles was named General Director.
Under Robles’ direction, the group struggled during lean funding years, but still performed all over California and in many special venues including the Riverside Dance Festival (New York City), the Teatro Degollado (Guadalajara, México) and Candlestick Park (San Francisco) during Pope John Paul II's visit to the United States. From 1985 to 1989, Los Lupeños hosted Danzantes Unidos Festival at San José State University attracting over 800 dancers from all over California for the 3-day event.
The early 1980s saw an increased awareness of dance and cultural education, and Los Lupeños responded by creating the Escuela de Danza y Cultura (School of Dance and Culture) as an adjunct to the Performing Company. As an outreach to the local schools in facilitating the new bilingual/bicultural curriculum, the Lupeños created a third subdivision of teachers and consultants.
This three-pronged structure of Performing Company, Escuela, and Community Outreach remains as the blueprint of the Lupeños organization. In 1987, Stanford graduate Rudy García became the Artistic Director. Under García, the repertoire broadened, and the company increased its collaboration with peer folklórico groups, participated in statewide events, and frequently performed at the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival.
In 1991, Los Lupeños hosted the annual ANGF Conference in San José attracting dancers from all over the United States to this week-long educational event. Company dancer María Luisa Colmenárez assumed artistic direction in 1993. During this time, Los Lupeños participated in the Bay Area production of Linda Ronstadt’s Más Canciones, and performed in the first Hawai'i Ethnic Dance Festival in Honolulu.
A gala concert in 1994 at the San José Center for the Performing Arts marked the company’s silver anniversary which included special performances by Polynesian Dancers, by a statewide Danzantes Unidos group, and by Lupeños alumni dancers. The Performing Company debuted a suite of dances from Zacatecas given as a gift from Rafael Zamarripa (who not only came to teach the suite, but also donated a complete set of Zacatecas costumes to the Company).
Senior dancers Carmen Gómez, Gerardo Silva, Guillermo Fausto, and Alejandra Molino took interim artistic direction during the summer of 1994 and coordinated several performances at the First International Mariachi Festival in Guadalajara in September, specially invited by the Government of the State of Jalisco. To top off such a special year, Los Lupeños was granted a coveted Bay Area “Izzy” award for Sustained Achievement. I
n 1995 Rick Mendoza, an original Los Lupeños dancer, returned to the Company as Artistic Director. Los Lupeños moved to its current location at 42 Race Street in San José, enabling a major expansion that includes three dance studios, administrative offices, conference room, and storage space for props, costumes, and sets. A musician as well as a dancer, Mendoza taught the Performing Company to understand the music and rhythm that are so important when dancing folklórico. In 1996, Mendoza began the transfer of the artistic direction to Tony Ferrigno, previously dancer, instructor, and assistant director.
With the company since 1979, Ferrigno brought back lost repertoire, created new suites, and worked on advancing other aspects of theater production (sound, costuming, illumination, and staging). During this time, the Company performed in other parts of the state including El Centro (in the south) and Paradise (in the north). In Spring, 1998, twelve members of the Performing Company traveled to England and Ireland representing Los Lupeños in dance festivals and sister-city celebrations.
During this time, Ferrigno choreographed an original suite, “Dancing through Time” which combined and contrasted six decades of social dance styles from both sides of the border. In 1999, Los Lupeños celebrated 30 years and Ferrigno directed a series of anniversary concerts at the newly opened Mexican Heritage Plaza Theater.
In Summer, 2000 interim director Mandy Rose Klaussen kept the company in shape until María de la Rosa assumed the direction in 2001. A Stanford alumnus, de la Rosa had danced with the Company since 1989 and had previously instructed and directed in the Escuela de Danza y Cultura. A creative choreographer, de la Rosa broadened the Company’s skill-set through joint collaborations with the José Limón Dance Company.
Dancers performed in two special modern dance suites ("Mágica Intimidad" and "Yo soy Joaquín"), as well as in the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, Hispanic Charity Ball, and ANGF 30th Anniversary Conference. De la Rosa was recognized as a "Champion of the Arts" by the San José Mercury News. In Summer, 2003 Tony Ferrigno returned as Artistic Director. During 2004 The Performing Company celebrated it’s 35th Anniversary with a special concert entitled Mosaico Cultural featuring new suites from Chihuahua, Tamaulipas and La Huasteca Veracruzana.
At the 2004 San José Mariachi Festival, Los Lupeños participated in three venues, including a special enactment of La Danza de los Sonajeros from Tuxpan, Jalisco and in 2005, twelve dancers from Los Lupeños joined Linda Ronstadt and Mariachi Cobre onstage at the SJ Events Center.
Los Lupeños de San Jose company is part of the folklorico dance program of the Mexican Heritage Corporation.
Financial donations and inquiries about supporting Los Lupeños and the Mexican Heritage Corporation should be directed to : Los Lupeños de San José, Mexican Heritage Plaza, 1700 Alum Rock Avenue, San José, CA 95116.