Echo and KEPW welcome Ballet Folklórico Colibrí

Presenter The KEPW program Underground Echo, broadcast every Wednesday evening at 6 p.m., recently spoke with Ballet Folklórico Colibrí. Here’s Echo:

Echo I’m here with Dania (Covarrubias-Sollo) and her mother, Mary (Sollo), and today, we are honored to get to interview and welcome Ballet Folklórico Colibrí, an organization that doesn’t just teach dance but restores memory, dignity, and cultural power to the youth of Eugene, Oregon. What would you say to community members who want to keep traditional arts alive in Eugene?

Mary Sollo  Well, I think art starts with the family inside the house, so I’ll tell them, ‘Share your culture, share your food, your music, your language.’ Because I see life as art. So if you share everything in your family, in your house, it will build up all the artistry that your child has inside them.

Echo How did the Ballet get its name?

Mary Sollo Yeah. Well, I started it in 2017. At that time we didn’t know what name to give our troupe. And then we discuss, like, in family, what name should we give to the group? And we ask the kids, the families. And I think Dania mentioned, why don’t we call it Colibrí?

Dania Covarrubias-Sollo Because there’s a story about the Aztec warriors, I think it is, that they would die, they would be reincarnated into hummingbirds.

Echo Oh, wow.

Dania Covarrubias-Sollo But there’s also another one.

Mary Sollo There are many.

Dania Covarrubias-Sollo Yeah, but the other one that you use a lot that it’s about a forest fire started.

Mary Sollo Oh, yeah. And then there is a fairy tale that says that, there was a big fire in the forest, and one little thing was flying back and forth, back and forth. And then one of the animals that they were running for their lives, they saw this little thing flying back and forth, and one asked, ‘Why are you flying toward the fire? You’re going to burn yourself. You’re going to die.’

And the little thing says, ‘Oh, I’m trying to put the fire off.’ So he was carrying water in his little beak, back and forth toward the fire. And the lion said, ‘But you’re so little, you can’t do nothing.’ 

‘That’s true. Maybe I cannot put off the fire, but I’m putting my little effort and that’s all that counts.’ 

And I think, yeah, our group is doing that. And hummingbird or colibrí has many, many legends. And as I mentioned before, it has a very, very deep connection to the Mesoamerican community or nations. And one of the things that is really connected (and I’ll tell Dania also) is that, in my culture, I’m a Mixtec, People of the Rain, and in my culture, it’s believed that every time you see a hummingbird in your garden or at your home, it’s because one you love that is no longer in this earth is visiting you, and it’s bringing a message.

Echo Wow.

Mary Sollo Yeah. So it has a very, very deep connection.

Echo Your group was born from a desire to give local youth a space to connect with their heritage.

Dania Covarrubias-Sollo It’s slowly built up a community, very slowly but surely. And now to this point, we have a very nice little, I guess you could say family, lots of kiddos and their parents who really support us and we can support their kids in that way. So it’s been growing and it’s really nice to see it. 

I really specialize in Mexican folk (dances). I haven’t yet branched out onto any other Latin countries, because I don’t always think that it’s mine to share. But with Mexico, I can expand into so many states, because that’s something that is really forgotten. 

Most people think, ‘Oh, Mexico,’ and usually the dress that comes up is the ribbon dress from Jalisco, which is a beautiful dress, and mariachi outfits. That’s usually what everyone thinks and hears. But I really like to show everyone, ‘Hey, we’re more than that.’ There’s 32 states in Mexico (Yeah), 32 states, and each one is so different— has their own, food, their own outfits, their own reasons for how they are, because of the colonization and what other people came to those places, whether it be Africans or people of Asian descent, and all of that just mixed into the Mexican culture and created something else, which is what we see now.

Echo That’s beautiful. Tell me how dance helps build confidence, belonging, and identity among the young people you mentor?

Dania Covarrubias-Sollo They come in, they’re new, they’ve never danced. When they get that first step, they’re like, ‘Hey, I can do it. I can do this.’ And then slowly, all the other steps start coming with much more ease. And I see them really start to come into their own, feel the pride of their culture. 

For some, it might be like, ‘Yes, this is your culture,’ because some of these kids don’t feel like they’re Mexican enough or they’re enough this, for whatever reason. And it just kind of tells them: This is yours. Take it and really own it. 

And for others, it’s more so being proud of this, because so many times as Latinos, whether or not it’s our parents or society telling us like, ‘That’s not good,’ or like, ‘That’s not the norm.’ For a lot of them, they just feel some internalized shame, just for being how they look or whatever. And this kind of tells them like, ‘No, it’s beautiful, it’s awesome, and it’s yours. Take it.’ 

I’ve had a lot of parents come up to me and say, ‘Hey,’ like, ‘My kid’s talking more. My kid feels more confident. They feel more at home in their own skin.’

And I’m like, ‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, my kid was very quiet. She’s very shy. He’s very shy. And now he’s out there doing these things at school or they talk to more people.’ 

And I’m like, ‘Interesting. I thought your kid talked a lot in my class. Some of them, yes. They come in, they all come in shy, but I think, hey, I would be shy too, if I came into a room of 15 girls that I might not know. People are staring. (Yeah.) You don’t know how they’re going to react to you. 

So I really, I always think, ‘Oh, I thought your kid was always like that. She’s always out here doing silly things. Just being her own crazy self.’ But I think at one point I did see one girl that came in super shy, very to-herself. And by the end, she was dancing with more pride, more sass, but in a good way, like, very commanding of the stage. And I’d see her talking to the other girls, and she was so much more confident. 

And I just was so excited for her because I saw her just, like, open up. And it was so pretty. I was like, ‘Oh, she’s like a little flower. Oh, it just bloomed.’

Echo The theme of this festival is music that saves lives. In your experience, how does dance through rhythm, movement and culture also save lives?

Dania Covarrubias-Sollo I absolutely believe that. And I think dance, especially this one, for these kids, definitely can. Because this makes them feel comfortable and loved, like they matter. With building their self-esteem, I think that definitely could save lives, because a lot of times our kiddos are very much at risk in the world, especially nowadays.

Echo If the audience could take one message from Ballet Folklórico Colibrí today, what would you want them to remember?

Dania Covarrubias-Sollo Like I tell my kids, like, ‘Love yourself in whatever way you comw, and to come see us whenever they can because it is really beautiful and everyone involved puts a lot of love and effort into all of this, from the outfits that they’re wearing to the dance that they’re dancing to the music choices. Everything is very intentional. Everything.

Mary Sollo And I love that. When we arrived to this country, we come, like, with a package—full of traditions. I think we, with our dances, want to tell our stories and say ‘We’re here.’ And Colibrí in some ways is like a representation for all the kids that maybe don’t have the opportunity to come and dance with us. But when they see us, ‘Oh, we’re here,’ because Folklórico is representation. 

Even when the first day that they come to our class, they see a brown girl that speaks Spanish and English and Spanglish. And it’s very important for them to see themselves represented in a setting which is not very common in Eugene, Oregon. So we want people to see us, like, representation. (Wonderful.)

Presenter They discussed the cultural stories that are shared at different holidays and festivals such as Las Posadas, The Inns, a Mexican tradition that re-enacts Mary and Joseph’s search for lodging over nine nights.

Dania Covarrubias-Sollo Y luego también Las Posadas, en Navidad. También la independencia de México en septiembre. Y en verdad, no celebramos cinco de mayo. (Por qué?) Porque es mas como una celebración de un estado (Ohhh…) que seria Puebla porque ganaron la batalla contra los franceses. Pues no, no fue como tanto para toda la nacion, yo pienso. Pero aquí nosotros no lo celebramos tanto, okay, pero la independencia, sí, es asi. 

Echo Okay. So it’s only to one area. It’s not something everybody celebrates.

Dania Covarrubias-Sollo  Yeah. Something like I would say how here in Oregon, we study the Oregon Trail, but not all states study the Oregon Trail. (No.)

Echo Ballet Folklorico Colibri creates joy even in times of hardship. How do you keep that spirit alive through challenges?

Dania Covarrubias-Sollo Well, we just keep on dancing.

Echo I love that!

Dania Covarrubias-Sollo We just keep on dancing. I mean, we had a talk the other day and the kids got really serious, and I said, ‘Hey, do we want to talk about this and get our feelings out there? Or would we just prefer to, for a second, just not think about it and just dance?’

And they said, ‘Let’s just dance it away.’ Like, we don’t want to think about it seriously right now because they’re already thinking about it (Yeah) probably all the time. So they can come into my class and say, okay, we can face these, or we can say, ‘Not today.’ Yeah, we just dance and let it go. Or put all that rage or sadness, anger, all of that into our dance. Or happiness, too.  All of that.

Echo All the emotions.

Dania Covarrubias-Sollo Channel it through dance.

Mary Sollo Creo que el baile, la danza es muy importante en la formación de la identidad de los niños. No desarrollo solo una parte fisica de los ninos, sino también cognitiva e ayuda a la autoestima, a la seguridad de ellos mismos aprenden a expresarse en general para el baile es muy completo. 

Y Colibrí es como un puente intercultural en esta sociedad qué vivimos aqui en Eugene, qué es muy multicultural. Si entonces somos un puente. Pero nuestra cultura como Latina todavía necesitamos conectar. 

Entonces Colibrí es como un puente porque, por ejemplo, nuestras presentaciones son mas para organizaciones, por ejemplo, Mushroom Festival es un ejemplo del tipo de eventos donde Colibrí performance entonces si es un bridge a una cultura.

Echo Okay, for those of you who do not speak Spanish very well, we’re enjoying this interview, and we’re really trying to connect both languages as we go

Mary Sollo Thank you so much. Because, you know, I think it’s part of our culture is this Spanglish that I’m talking about. Sometimes, maybe, you don’t know some words in Spanish and you tell it in English, or Dania has to put something in Spanish. So that’s part of who we are. It’s part of our identity.

Echo Yeah. It’s important.

Mary Sollo It’s very important. Yeah. And like that little hummingbird that was bringing his little drop of water to the fire, we as a group, we’re going very slow, drop by drop, but we’re going strong. (I love that, yeah.) Slow and steady, thank you. 

Something that I would like to say is that: Art in general helps form identity—música, baile, cocina, whatever form of art, I think it helps youth form identity.

Echo That’s so true. That’s such a powerful message. Thank you for being here with me today, Mary, Dania, you guys are such a pleasure. And is there anything you’d like to say before we go?

Mary Sollo If there is any way people can support Colibrí please reach out right now, I think we need moral support and any kind of support because of all the political issues. Thank you very much for embracing us as Colibrí. Thank you, because we’re being embraced in a very, very lovely way.

Echo I want to honor Ballet Folklórico Colibrí not only for what they teach, but for how they live their mission: with courage, with heart, with unyielding dedication to young people who deserve to see themselves in the mirror of culture and know that they are brilliant, capable, and whole. 

We honor the parents who trust their children to this space. We honor the teachers who pour energy, knowledge, and care into each class. 

Thank you to Ballet Folklórico Colibrí. Thank you to Mary, thank you to Dania for your wonderful performance and voice. Thank you to every young person, to every parent and every teacher who makes this work possible. Thank you for showing us how dance can be more than art, how it can be culture, history, resistance, joy and love. 

And thank you all, all of you listening today, for allowing yourself to feel these echoes, to carry them forward, and to witness the beauty, resilience, and power of a community that dances for its people, for its children and for freedom.

Presenter Underground Echo visits with Mary and Dania of Ballet Folklórico Colibrí. You can listen to Echo every Wednesday at 6 p.m. right here on KEPW 97.3 Eugene’s PeaceWorks Community Radio.