Don’t be embarrassed about who you are. I am proud to be Mexican.
Nelly DeLaRosby of Alexandria performed a Mexican folk dance at the Diversity Festival at the Alexandria Technical and Community College in September 2022. Alexandria Echo Press file photo
NELLY DELAROSBY Folk dancer
Mexican folk dancing brings her back to By Celeste Edenloff Originally from Mexico City, Nelly DeLaRosby, who has lived in the Alexandria area for more than 20 years, is proud of her Mexican heritage and welcomes questions from anyone about it. She said the preschool children she works with at the Early Education Center in Alexandria often comment on her thick Mexican accent or will ask her questions, which she welcomes. “They tell me I sound funny or different,” she said, with a wide grin on her face. “Don’t be afraid to ask people from other cultures questions. Most like to share about their heritage.” DeLaRosby shared some of her heritage by way of performing a Mexican folk dance at the first-ever Diversity Festival that took place in September 2022 at the Alexandria Technical and Community College. She enjoys dancing, whether it is Mexican folk dances, Zumba or salsa dancing. She even used to be a Zumba instructor at the Alexandria Area YMCA. “I just love to dance,” she said. The Mexican folk dance she performed was to the song, “El Son de la Negra,”
6 AUTHENTIC You Spring 2023
which she said is a very popular song and dance, almost like a second national anthem for Mexico. “El Son de la Negra” is one of the most played and overall adored sons in Mexico, she explained. “This song is performed for special events, festivals, celebrations and more specifically, for Mexican Independence Day,” she said, noting that although it comes from Jalisco, Mexico, this song is an important part of the Mexican folk culture that involves mariachis, in their typical mariachi attire, playing the song while women wear big, vibrant, colorful dresses. The dance moves that go with “El Son de la Negra” involve a lot of high energy, spinning body movement, footwork, arm movement and body percussion with frequent foot tapping, which highlights the musical composition. And typically, she said, the dance involves many people or at least a male and a female. Although she is not professionally trained to dance to that song, DeLaRosby said she interprets it from what she remembers growing up and watching others, including her mother, dance to that song. She usually just performs it by
her roots
herself, so it is not the traditional dance people would see if they were in Mexico. DeLaRosby said dancing to this song brings her back to her roots. “Whenever I get homesick, I would dance to this song and it just makes me so happy,” she said. “It brings me back home and it just warms my heart.” Growing up in Mexico City, there were many festivals and celebrations and with them, there was also a lot of Mexican folk dancing, music and food. She remembers that her mom loved to dance and was a very good dancer. When DeLaRosby dances to “El Son de la Nega,” she will wear a typical Jalisco dress from the region of Jalisco. The dress is very heavy, she added, so she doesn’t wear it often, but will definitely wear it to perform in. And, she said, she has brought it to the school to show the children. When asked if there was anything else she wanted to share, DeLaRosby said, “Don’t be embarrassed about who you are. I am proud to be Mexican.”