With a wide range of performers from current students to alums to professional to even a few guest performers from other Austin ISD campus, McCallum’s Cinco de Mayo celebration united the past and the present and students from all over the city all of the purpose of celebrating the contribution of Mexican culture to the world. McCallum’s longtime expert on Cinco de Mayo and all things Latine returned to campus to Senora A emcee the show.
Leading up to Friday’s eighth-period performance, Ballet Folklórico students manned a ticket sales table at lunch in the main hallway. The booth was located in the main hall near the front office. The $2 ticket price did not dissuade math teacher and PALS adviser Richard Cowles from stepping up to the booth on Wednesday and buying a class set of tickets so his entire eighth-period class could take in the show.
When Friday finally arrived, students left eighth period and headed to the Mac to enjoy the show, and we believe the photos that follow will confirm that those paying customers got a terrific show for the price. The wide range of performers included the Ballet Folklórico troupe, live musical performances including a mariachi band.
We are proud to present as this week’s Tuesday Top 10 our photo gallery that captures all the colorful and smile-filled performances from last Friday’s Cinco de Mayo celebration.
UNA CANTANTE ENCANTADA: Mac alumnus and vocalist Crystal Vara (Class of 2013) performs a series of traditional Mexican and Mexican American numbers, ranging from the traditional ballad “Cucurucucu Paloma” to the seismic anthem “Como la Flor,” by late Tejano trailblazer Selena.
Former McCallum Spanish teacher Juana Gun first asked Vara to perform for the Ballet Folklórico Cinco de Mayo performance several years back. The two bonded after Vara’s graduation and have even sang at karaoke nights together. Ever since, Vara has been a staple of the program according to Gun.
“I’m proud that something I started 20 years ago has another 20 years ahead of it,” Gun said. “I love being around my Knights. I love this place.”
Caption by Beatrix Lozach. Photo by Henry McDaniel.
A HARMONIC HOMECOMING: After being the featured guitarist at the event last year as a senior, Aaron Degante performs at the Cinco de Mayo on Friday as an alumnus. On Friday, Degante played “Malagueña” and “Se Ela Perguntar.” He felt both pieces fit the energy of the event.
“I picked ‘Se Ela Perguntar’ because it’s a beautiful slow paced piece,” Degante said. “It would catch the crowd by surprise when I play ‘Malagueña’ since it’s a lot faster pace than ‘Se Ela Perguntar.’ ‘Malagueña’ is my favorite piece of all time.”
Degante was invited back to the MAC stage by Telvi Altamirano-Cancino, his former Spanish teacher.
“I was just happy to help Sra. A out,” he said.
Altamirano-Cancino thought Degante would be a good addition to the show not only because of his musical ability but also because it would provide him a way back to his alma mater and local Latine community.
“I love the idea of having alumni perform and stay connected to our school,” Altamirano-Cancino said. “It shows how much of a community we are, and it mirrors an important aspect of our Latino heritage. We are a culture that looks out for each other and gives back to each other.”
Like Altamirano-Cancino, Degante found community to be a rewarding part of his Cinco De Mayo experience.
“[The] best part of coming back and playing was just seeing the school again and remembering the many memories I made,” he said.
Caption by Francie Wilhelm with additional reporting by Dave Winter. Photo by Henry McDaniel.
FUN AND FRIENDS: Freshman Carley Castro-Seiler dances in Ballet Folklórico’s Cinco de Mayo performance on Friday in the MAC. Castro-Seiler said the club has grown closer together during this year, and has been continuously improving its performance.
“The last performance was really fun because we all got closer over the year,” Castro-Seiler said. “It was more dancing with friends other than random people.”
Even with a slight mishap in the group’s last dance, Seiler said the performance was a great experience.
“The last dance that we did, we messed up a little bit,” Seiler said. “But it was fine, it didn’t feel awkward or anything because we were together.”
Seiler said she was initially introduced to Ballet Folklórico by her family.
“I got involved because my grandmother used to do it when she was little,” Seiler said. “My mom wanted me to do it, so she kind of pushed me, but then it became more for fun, rather than just doing it for my mom.”
Overall, Seiler said she had a great time performing for the event.
“I had a lot of fun doing it, so that was the most important thing,” Seiler said.
Caption by Josie Mullan. Photo by Riley Pita.
Aida Ortiz, a student at LBJ High School, dances a traditional Hawaiian dance onstage. While Hawaii is not a part of Mexico, Mexican cowboys still had a large cultural impact on the Paniolo people. This unique blend of identities allowed both Hispanic people and Asian Americans (whose national celebration month is May) to be recognized. Photo by Henry McDaniel.
MESMERIZING MAZATLAN: Sophomore Mailyn Gil and senior Keegan Sarwate dance the Mazatlan together during the Cinco De Mayo show on Friday. The event was organized and produced by Ballet Folklórico. The Mazatlan dance comes from the region of Sinaloa.
During the show, various dances, songs, and beats were performed to celebrate Cinco De Mayo, a holiday which celebrates the Mexican victory over France on May 5, 1862.
This is Gil’s second year being a part of Ballet Folklórico and also her second year to perform in the Cinco De Mayo show. With Juana Gun, the former sponsor of Ballet Folklórico, leaving and Telvi Altamirano-Cancino taking over as the new sponsor, new performances were introduced into this year’s Cinco De Mayo show.
One new performance was as steel-drum performance by the Knights of Steel. Watching the steel drums performance was Gil’s favorite part of this year’s show.
“All of the club members were dancing and having fun backstage,” she said.
As well as watching the drum performance, performing “The Torito” was Gil’s favorite part because of the costume elements.
“Women wore the traditional Chiapas dress, which has colorful flowers embroidered in it,” Gil said. “The men wear Torito masks which are handmade masks that look like bulls.”
Ballet Folklórico has been practicing traditional dances for multiple weeks leading up to the big performance and also has spent time making various parts of costumes.
Caption by Maya Tackett. Photo by Henry McDaniel.
Senior Mika Ponce and sophomore Esteban Aleman perform the Mazatlan dance at Friday’s Cinco de Mayo celebration in the MAC. Because the dance was the most recent one that Ballet Folklórico dancers had learned, Aleman was nervous about performing it.
“I was actually feeling really nervous,” Aleman said. “We had done a performance at Reilly Elementary earlier, and I was worried about the last dance we did, because it slipped apart.”
Feeling happy after the performance on Friday, Aleman said the dances improved.
“I think it went better at the Cinco de Mayo show,” he said.
Dressed in traditional ballet folklórico outfits, Aleman said the girls switched into different dresses for each region of Mexico.
Aleman said his highlight of the night was the last dance, which had been the wild card of their performance, but had improved a lot.
“It was just really fun to perform,” he said.
Aleman has enjoyed his time with the Spanish club and says it is something he looks forward to every week.
Caption by Priya Thoppil. Photo by Henry McDaniel.
NEW YEAR NEW EXPERIENCE: For junior Mac Lopez getting to be a part of the Cinco De Mayo show has become increasingly more special. As a two-year member of Ballet Folklórico, Lopez has gotten to be involved with the show multiple times and see both the production of it, and the background efforts it takes to put on.
“Getting to be involved in this during our biggest performance of the year felt special,” Lopez said, “[especially] because of the community connection and celebration of culture.”
As part of the show Lopez got to participate in the dance, “El Torito,” which originated from the state of Chiapas.
“I think getting to be involved in this dance felt special to the holiday because of the community event Cinco De Mayo is,” Lopez said. “Getting to be involved in this during our biggest performance of the year felt special because of that community connection.”
For Lopez, the dance was bittersweet because it gave her both learning opportunities and chances to relive old memories. The dance was specifically for the Ballet Folklórico captains, featuring a solo performance for Lopez and her partner Maverick Palacios.
“It’s special to me because it was one of the first dances I learned in the club,” Lopez said, “and because the end solo allows Maverick and I to improve each time something new.”
Caption by Chloe Lewcock. Photo by Riley Pita.
![SPREADING THE JOY: Sophomore Chim Becker poses with sophomores Cozbi Sims and Lou Davidson while manning a table at the Hispanic Heritage treat day during lunch of Sept 28. Becker is a part of the students of color alliance, who put together the activity to raise money for their club.
“It [the stand] was really fun because McCallum has a lot of latino kids,” Becker said. “And I think it was nice that I could share the stuff that I usually just have at home with people who have never tried it before.”
Becker recognizes the importance of celebrating Hispanic heritage at Mac.
“I think its important to celebrate,” Becker said. “Because our culture is awesome and super cool, and everybody should be able to learn about other cultures of the world.”
Caption by JoJo Barnard.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/53221601352_4127a81c41_o-600x338.jpg)
![MAXWELL’S MASTERPIECE: Members of Zoe Maxwell’s choreographed dance for the spring student directed show Perennial form a group pose.
For both the choreographers and directors the performance was an opportunity to show off their unique style of dance and bring together the dancers, the theme, and music to create a dance that resembled them.
For junior Zoe Maxwell the performance was unique because while it was her third year performing in the show, it was her first time getting the chance to choreograph a dance and have a more hands-on role with the show.
“It was my last show with all of my senior friends and it was the first student directed show that I got to contribute to choreographically [which was special],” Maxwell said. “My favorite part of the experience was getting to showcase my creativity and seeing that come to life.”
Maxwell said her song choice inspired her choreography.
“Since I heard the song MOVE by Beyonce I knew I wanted to choreograph it,” Maxwell said. “The tricky part was matching it to the themes of the dance show, but luckily the song mentions fire so I connected it to the element theme of the show,”
The role as choreographer proved to be a learning experience for Maxwell because the process of creating a dance differed from just performing in one.
“The biggest challenge was managing the rehearsal time we were given and planning accordingly so that our dances would be finished in time for the show,” Maxwell said. “I took some inspiration from videos and choreography online, but other than that I just kind of improved to the song until I found moves I liked.”](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/53719496826_a8b6b35cb8_o-1200x678.jpg)
![A TURNING POINT IN BB SEASON: While Blue Brigade typically focuses on the spirited pom routines and kick lines at football games, according to sophomore Chloe Seckar-Martinez, the team’s Spring Show provides a unique opportunity for them to tune into a different style of dance. Seckar-Martinez takes the stage during the team’s contemporary dance “Turning Tables.”
The dance, since it differed from normal Blue Brigade style, was especially rewarding to perform and see succeed according to Seckar-Martinez.
“It’s like one of our only dances where we’re really more into the emotional side of it,” Seckar-Martinez said. “It was almost our first run to be able to just see how much our hard work had paid off.”
For Seckar-Martinez, the dance was especially unique because it was the second to last time she would be performing with seniors, and that moment would be memorable.
“It was meaningful because our seniors were able to have this show without feeling really sad,” Seckar-Martinez said. “This was our chance to do it [perform] with not as necessarily high of emotions since we didn’t know we were going to be able to dance it again.”
The contemporary dance was choreographed by assistant director Jamie Friedman. Her addition to the team was new this year, so the dance provided a special element for Blue Brigade in knowing how much she worked at improving the team, according to Seckar-Martinez.
“This was the first dance that we ever got choreographed by our assistant director for the first time, so that was really special,” Seckar-Martinez said. “To be able to do one of her pieces, especially at the show, since this is her first year was something very meaningful.
Seckar-Martinez said the dance created an emotional connection amongst those who performed it, given the emotions that came with it, and the amount of work that went into perfecting it for the stage.
“It was a very meaningful dance, and It was our chance to just have a lot of fun with it and just see what we can show the audience for the first time,” Seckar-Martinez said. “It may be something that no one’s heard of, or that no one’s seen.”
Caption by Chloe Lewcock.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/53683630702_5e1b7c5f85_o-1-e1714535632369-1200x777.jpg)
![A PRIDE-FUL WEEK OF CELEBRATION:
As part of AISDs week-long celebration of PRIDE, students of the McCallum Spectrum Club worked to create a week full of activities, prizes and helping hands to support the schools LGBTQ+ community. The club is widely available for anyone to join, and specializes in creating a safe space for students to share and give advice. While Pride month itself isn’t until June, AISD designates one week in March to celebrate and commemorate the importance of this part of the student body.
As part of the week of festivities, the club held a booth in the front hall handing out pride stickers, pins and merch to passers by. For junior Zane Joly, the booth idea was brought up as a way for students to engage with one another, and connect with the community.
“I call out to people in the halls, ‘hey, do you want stickers?’” Joly said. “We just give out free pride stickers and sometimes other free pride merch to the students of Macallum because everybody likes pride stickers.”
While the week itself is packed with a variety of different activities, the overall goal is to bring students closer together and create a safer environment for self expression at McCallum.
“The idea for the student panel largely came from the black [history] student panel that is done during Black History Month,” Joly said. “And the idea for giving out free stuff was developed at Spectrum last year.”
Joly is not only a member of the Spectrum club, but also holds a leadership position giving them a more hands-on role with the projects and Pride Week activities.
“McCallum has a very high queer population,” Joly said. “I think Its nice that we get a chance to celebrate Pride because Pride Month is during the summer, and I think its just a nice thing for the community and getting to just celebrate it.”
While the merch table at lunch was only a small part of the numerous parts of McCallum’s Pride week, for Joly this small impact made all the difference.
“The purpose of Pride is to make people not feel alone and to make them feel safe,” Joly said. “The goal is [to make people] happy about a part of themselves that theyre often conditioned to not feel good about.”
Caption by Chloe Lewcock. Photo by Shila Gill.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/53597258192_6e7168d8ae_o-1-1200x676.jpg)
![BACKGROUND IN THE BUSINESS: Dressed by junior designer Kaitlyn Gerrie, senior Chamila Muñoz took to the “Dreamland” runway this past weekend. While it was her first time participating in the McCallum fashion show, Muñoz isn’t new to the modeling world.
I modeled here and there when I was a lot younger, maybe five or six [years old] for some jewelry brands and small businesses, but not much in recent years,” Muñoz said.
Muñoz had hoped to participate in last year’s show but couldn’t due to scheduling conflicts. For her senior year, though, she couldn’t let the opportunity pass her by.
“It’s [modeling] something I haven’t done in a while so I was excited to step out of my comfort zone in a way,” Muñoz said. “I always love trying new things and being able to show off designs of my schoolmates is such an honor.”
The preparation process for the show was hectic, leaving the final reveal of Gerrie’s design until days before the show, but the moment Muñoz tried on the outfit, all the stress for both designer and model melted away.
“I didn’t get to try on my outfit until the day before, but the look on Kaitlyn’s face when she saw what she had worked so hard to make actually on a model was just so special,” Muñoz said. “I know it meant so much to her. But then she handed me a blindfold and told me I’d be walking with it on, so that was pretty wild.”
Caption by Francie Wilhelm.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/53535098892_130167352f_o-1200x800.jpg)
