Jacquelyn Guzman (Masters)

Jacquelyn Guzman is native to Tucson, AZ. Although she began dancing folklorico when she was a little older, at 13, she fell in love immediately. She was a part of Los Tucsonenses, under the direction of Lisabeth Almgren and Marcela Cardenas from Tucson High Magnet School and graduated with a Performance Arts Credential. She then became a member of Ballet Folklórico Tapatío, where she danced under the direction of Maestro Sergio Valle Vasquez for over eight years.

It was under Ballet Folklórico Tapatío where she began her teaching career. She taught the Infantil group for Tapatío for two years and was then given the opportunity to work at Sunnyside High School as the director of Los Diablitos Azules for three years. Wanting a change of pace and something new, Jacquelyn relocated to Las Vegas, NV in the fall of 2008. She began teaching students at Rancho High School, Ballet Folklórico Sol de Rancho. It was here that she saw a greater need for folklórico in the community and began teaching an Infantil group in the evenings. Most of the members of the Infantil group were siblings, cousins, neighbors of her high school students. When members of Sol de Rancho began graduating, they did not want to stop dancing and so, in 2012, Jacquelyn formed Ballet Folklórico Sol Huasteco with former students.

Jacquelyn is a proud Tucsonan and has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Arizona and an Associate’s degree in Performing Arts with a Dance Emphasis from Pima Community College. She has also obtained her Master of Arts degree from the University of Southern California in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.

Jacquelyn has coordinated the folklórico component of the Clark County School District Mariachi and Folklórico Conference since 2009. She also had the honor to participate as an Assistant Director for the Las Vegas Mariachi and Baile Folklórico Conference in 2013 hosted by Tucson’s own CHISPA Foundation. Jacquelyn has also participated in numerous conferences, such as the Tucson International Mariachi and Folklórico Conference, Las Cruces International Mariachi and Folklórico Conference, the San Jose Mexican Heritage and Mariachi Festival, Danzantes Unidos Festival, and the Gran Festival de Folklor y Mariachi in Tucson, AZ.

Nancy Ortega (Juvenil & Infantil)

Nancy was born in Los Angeles, CA but was raised in a small town in Jalisco, Mexico. She comes from a very traditional Mexican family; always surrounded by Charreriaand folk art. Her mom jokes that the VHS concert "Canciones de Mi Padre" by Linda Ronstandt was her babysitter. Nancy's mom would play the VHS to calm Nancy down and Nancy remembers singing and dancing to all the songs.
 
Nancy officially began dancing Mexican folk dance at 7 years old. Through her 23 years of dancing, her favorite memory was when she received an invitation from the Director of her town's Ballet Folklorico Magisterial. She almost couldn’t believe it! She was only a High School student and felt honored to be dancing with some of her former folklorico teachers. Nancy was a part of this group for almost 3 years.

During this time, Nancy was also a teacher's aide and dance instructor for students from kindergarten to junior high. Back in school she also enjoyed poetry, music, drawing, and theater. She used to play the Soprano Recorder Flute, was in solo and group poetry clubs, and participated in the school and church choirs. If something had ANYthing to do with art, she was involved. 
 
Nancy has been a part of various dance groups throughout her dance career, both in Mexico and in the USA. She became part of Sol Huasteco back in August of 2014. As Sol Huasteco's Infantil and Juvenil Instructor, she teaches a group of kids from 5 to 17 years old.

Nancy feels that she will always be a dancer. Dancing has always been part of her life and her favorite hobby. She loves to research other cultures and try to compare those cultures to Mexican culture to see what makes our culture similar or different from the others.
Nancy feels that being a part of Sol Huasteco means a lot to her, not just because she get to do what she likes, DANCE!, but also, in exchange she keeps getting more experience working with kids. It gives her the opportunity to share and teach something that is totally different for them. Because to her, folklorico is not just about dance, it is about traditions, history, myths, and facts that our ancestors passed on through the generations.
 
Sol Huasteco is a window to the Mexican folkloric culture, but our main challenge is to keep our kids off the streets by getting them involved in other activities. Ballet folklorico is not just an activity; we not only teach students how to dance, we try to establish discipline and organization in each and every one of our members.