And The Winner Is... - Week 36

Welcome back!  Hope everyone enjoyed their Labor Day weekend!  I sure did!  I had the pleasure of dancing at Disney's California Adventure with Ballet Folklorico Sol de Mexico!  Be sure to come back and read all about it in next week's post! Before we get started, a special welcome to Portugal and United Arab Emirates for joining in the journey this week!  It's great to have you both along!  Let's get going!

August 31, 2013 concluded my contest for a One Big Wedo designed logo.  Thank you to all those who showed interest.  Although I received lots of emails regarding interest in the contest, only one person entered my contest with six logo submissions! Check them out:

Thank you Ismael Nunez of California for your multiple logo entries and congratulations for being the One Big Wedo logo contest winner!  

Upon notifying Ismael of his big win of the $100 prize, he surprised me by telling me he wanted the $100 to be reinvested into the group to support the folklorico arts!  Wow!  I was so impressed with his decision that I decided to match his contribution dollar for dollar, $100 is now $200 and will be used towards providing costumes, costume restoration, studio fees and folklorico lesson scholarships to Herencia dancers.  Thank you Ismael for your generous gift and I will definitely keep you and readers updated as to how the money was invested.  Perhaps we can start on restoring the china dresses I wrote about in my blog "A Tale of Two Chinas"!  That would be exciting!

As mentioned earlier, on September 1st we danced at Disney!  While there in the park, I had one of their animators draw up this picture of me!  Thank you to Cynn Marie for the picture!  Too much fun!

This weekend I will be performing at Plaza Mexico in Lynwood, California.  We will be performing two dances from Colima.  This will be my first time dancing the region.  Sort of reminds me of Jalisco a little bit.  Here is what Wikipedia says about Colima:

Colima (Spanish pronunciation: [ko'lima]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Colima (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Colima), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico.  It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima. 

Colima is a small state located in the Western Mexico region on Mexico's central Pacific coast.  It shares borders with the states of Jalisco and Michoacán.  In addition to the capital city of Colima, the state's main cities include Manzanillo and Tecoman.  Despite being the fourth smallest entity in Mexico with the lowest numerical population, the state has one of Mexico's highest standards of living and lowest unemployment.

These Colima dances were taught to the group by Kareli Montoya, Ballet Folklorico de Los Angeles, who studied and performed at the Ballet Folklorico de la Universidad de Colima, directed by folklorico icon, Rafael Zamarripa.

Later, Richard Solorzano provided choreography for them.  You may recall me writing about these Colima dances back on week 22 in my post called "The World Of Workshops".  If you haven't read that one yet, go take a look at it!  

In other news, I want to thank the City of Azusa Recreation Department for the opportunity to perform at their Azusa Senior Center Fiesta Event.  As you may recall, we danced at the city's Cinco de Mayo Festival last May.  They enjoyed Herencia Mexicana's performance and invited us back to perform for this event.  Thank you!  Read about the "Cinco de Mayo" show in my post entitled just that!

This week's post is extra short because I want to get started on writing next week's already!  Plenty of fun stuff to write about there!  In closing, I want to share this image of a beautiful china we saw at Disney.  Ballet Folklorico Mixteco, East LA danced at California Adventure on Sept 1st as well!  This dress really stood out to me.  It's the one at the end, on the right, with the sun on the front.  Very nice. The girl wearing it made the china and did all the sequin work herself.  What a labor of love.  Of course, all the china dresses made quite an impression.     

BF Mixteco will also be performing at the LA Fair on the same day as Herencia.  Perhaps audience members will get the chance to see this china in person!  Hope everyone can come out to the fair and see the shows! Until next week everyone, Wedo out!

Just a quick update to last week's post "Ideas for Folklorico"!  Moby's new video for "Perfect Life" was released this week! Is that timing or what?  Click the link below to watch it!  

http://youtu.be/MoDWmXQmaXE

****ATTENTION ALL BIG WEDO FANS & FOLLOWERS:  MARK YOUR CALENDARS - SEPTEMBER 29, 2013 - HERENCIA MEXICANA WILL BE PERFORMING AT THE LA COUNTY FAIR.  THIS IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR THOSE OF YOU IN THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA TO COME OUT AND SHOW YOUR SUPPORT!  MEET THE WEDO!  LET'S PACK THE PLAZA AND SET RECORD ATTENDANCE FOR THE SHOW!  HOPE TO SEE EVERYONE THERE!  PLAZA DE LAS AMERICAS FROM 1:30 TO 2:00 PM****

Contact Information for "The Big Wedo":

Google E-mail: onebigwedo@gmail.com
Facebook: One Big Wedo (Guero)
Twitter: Michael Smith @onebigwedo
Blogger: www.onebigwedo.blogspot.com

Contact Information for Ballet Folklorico de Herencia Mexicana:

Richard Solorzano, Director: (909) 201-1957
Facebook: Herencia Mexicana
E-Mail: Bf_herencia_mexicana@yahoo.com

Note: Looking for your own adventure or journey? Herencia is a great place to find one!  Folklorico lessons and performances are both available. Herencia Mexicana performs for private & public events of all kinds. Book your event today! Herencia Mexicana welcomes new students. No previous folklorico or dance experience required.  All are welcome.