From L.A. to the East Bay, a student finds her Oaxacan community at Berkeley

This first-person narrative was written from an interview with Tania Lopez, a second-year architecture student. Have someone you think we should write about? Contact [email protected].

“Since I was 3, dance has been a constant in my life.

I was raised in an Indigenous Oaxacan household alongside my younger brother in L.A.’s Echo Park. My parents enrolled me in a nearby Early Head Start program, and next door, an elementary school partnered with a local nonprofit to offer dance classes for lower-income children. It was there that I was first introduced to dance, not knowing it would later connect me with my Oaxacan culture.

As I got older, I attended an elementary and middle school that incorporated dance into every grade level. I trained in ballet, hip hop, jazz, salsa, tango and Latin ballroom. But it wasn’t until high school that dance became something deeper for me through ballet folklórico.

I attended a predominantly Hispanic high school that offered folklórico as part of its curriculum. It’s a stylized form of traditional Mexican dance that blends regional folk culture with the technical elements of ballet and contemporary stage performance. Learning it was both challenging and comforting; it felt different than any other style I had performed. Yet it was familiar and freeing to dance because it connected me to my Mexican roots.

Each dance connects to a specific region of Mexico, telling a story through the costume designs, music and skirt movements. Through it, I learned about other regions in Mexico I had never even heard of. There are dances that mimic the rhythm of the waves from Veracruz and others that touch on agricultural traditions. I enjoyed learning and performing so much that I joined a folklorico group based in Oaxacan cultural dances, to learn more about my parents’ traditions and my family’s culture.

Coming to UC Berkeley, I was nervous about whether I would find a sense of community. But I came across OaxaCal, a grassroots organization for Oaxacan-identifying students on campus, and joined during my first semester. Now I’m a co-lead with their marketing department. Then I joined Ballet Folklórico Reflejos del Sol at Berkeley, a group that teaches and performs traditional Mexican folklorico dances across the East Bay Area. Finding both my Oaxacan community and a folklórico group at Berkeley makes the campus feel more like home.

My parents have always been proud of my folklórico performances. My mom has been my biggest supporter, driving me to rehearsals ever since I can remember. She grew up in a small village in Oaxaca. As a young girl, she always wished she could dance folklórico. But with just enough money for food, her family couldn’t afford the dresses or classes. These dances aren’t just for me — they’re also for my parents, who have given me so much. I carry a lot of pride in being able to continue both my education and ballet folklórico at Berkeley.

Now I’m a second-year architecture student, and I hope to one day give back to my Los Angeles community by designing public spaces for families in lower-income neighborhoods. I want to help create spaces where others can feel safe and connected, like I did throughout my childhood learning dance.

At Berkeley, I’ve found a community that feels like family. Even when school feels overwhelming, the community I’ve built reminds me that I belong here. Berkeley has given Oaxacan students a space to celebrate our identities.”

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