Andy Tullis / The BulletinBear Creek Elementary School teacher Renee Sanchez, right, leads students in a folklórico dance class last week. Teachers and volunteers at the school have started offering weekly folklórico dance classes.

The classroom’s tables and chairs were pushed aside and the carpet was rolled back so that the girls’ ballroom-style Mary Janes and the boys’ cowboy boots clicked across the floor. Once in formation, they shuffled side to side, over and over until they were moving to the beat in unison.

“Add those smiles, it makes it all the more fun,” second-grade teacher Renee Sanchez called from the front of the room. “To the right, one-two-three-four, to the left, one-two-three-four.”

Teachers and volunteers at Bear Creek Elementary School in Bend have started offering weekly folklorico dance classes. Folklorico dancing is traditional throughout Latin America, but classes here focus on regional styles from Mexico.

The school has the highest Hispanic population in the district (about 42 percent this year) and is home to a Spanish-language immersion program, where students are taught in Spanish and English. But culturally based activities were lacking, particularly in the arts, Sanchez said. For students whose parents and grandparents grew up with folklorico dancing, these classes connect them to that tradition.

“Once they learn the dances, they will be in them forever,” Sanchez said.

In November, 55 students auditioned for 20 spots in the program. While most everyone was a beginner, students were judged on their sense of rhythm and enthusiasm.

At last week’s class they learned Los Machetes, a dance traditionally performed with machetes, which male dancers swing and clap under their kicks and overhead. Instead, the five boys in the class were given foot-long wooden sticks, which they seemed to enjoy just as much.

Over the course of the hourlong class, there was hardly any goofing off. The students clearly take it seriously, listening closely for instructions and watching Sanchez’s example at the front of the room.

In the first row, second-grader Sergio Carrillo, 8, executed turns and kicks with abandon. He said the “machetes” took some getting used to, and a few times he nearly smacked the girl dancing next to him.

“It’s very fun because whenever you dance, you can be wild and crazy and have a bunch of fun,” he said.

Later the girls were fitted with floor-length, royal purple skirts that tied around the waist with a wide ruffle at the bottom. This was the first time they’ve danced with the skirts, and once fitted they instinctively started to twirl and swish, seeing how wide the fabric stretched.

“The turns look really pretty with the skirts,” said third-grader Yoselin Garcia Reyes, 9.

The program is funded by donations, and the first $700 raised went to purchase the skirts. But there are more costumes, ribbons and hair pieces to buy, and Sanchez said she wants to be authentic in their performances.

The group’s debut will come at Bear Creek’s Earth Day celebration next month. Later they will perform at the school’s Cinco de Mayo assembly.

— Reporter: 541-617-7837,

aspegman@bendbulletin.com

To learn more about Bear Creek’s folklorico group, check out the group’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BearCreekFolklorico/