TRADITIONAL TWIRLS A JOURNAL TO MEXICO VIA SKIRTS, FEET.

Byline: LISA M. SODDERS Staff Writer

NORTHRIDGE - The steps, the rhythm and especially the colorful swirling costumes of Mexican dance hold lessons about the varied regions of America's neighbor to the south, lessons that will come to the stage Friday at CSUN.

Cal State Northridge's Ballet Folklorico Aztlan de CSUN dance group will perform several styles of folklorico dance at the third annual Folklor de Mexico Music and Dance Concert on campus.

For troupe member Maria Rosales, reflecting the Mexican regions' various cultures is all in the skirt - and the feet.

"The northern districts have more footwork, and for Jalisco, it's more skirt work," said Rosales, 24, of Winnetka. "Sometimes it's both, and then it really gets demanding. The guys don't have skirts to hide behind, so they get to exaggerate their posture and footwork."

The CSUN troupe was founded in the 1960s and performed until the 1994 Northridge Earthquake devastated the campus. The group, which includes CSUN students and staff, re-formed in 1997, and performs around the region, dancing at weddings, elementary schools, nursing homes and even for one customer's baby shower.

The group has learned nine distinct regional styles and continues to add more, raising money through performances for the elaborate costumes, shoes, boots, hairpieces and jewelry that go with each style. The music and instrumentation varies with each region as well.

Rather than a single dance style, folklorico is influenced by the different regions of Mexico, said Marina Gonzalez, 31, of Northridge.

For example, the region of Veracruz is very humid, so the women's dresses are light and airy, Gonzalez said. The women's dresses for the Sonora Bronco style - the latest region added to the group's repetoire - have a Western flair, while the dresses for Jalisco have wider, fuller skirts. The men's costumes also vary according to the region, as do the postures and footwork required.

"With every performance, we educate more people," Rosales said.

Diana Cabral said people she talks to know little about Mexican dance.

"People say, 'Oh! Flamenco!'" said Cabral, 34, of Granada Hills. "A lot of people still don't know the difference between Flamenco (a Spanish dance) and Folklorico, so I'll say, 'You know - the dances with the big skirts and the guys with the big hats."

Friday's event will feature theater, live mariachi music and folklorico dance performances from the Mexican states of Jalisco, Veracruz, Sonora Bronco, Nayarit and Costa de Sinaloa.

In addition to Ballet Folklorico Aztlan de CSUN, other performers include Danz Mexica Cuahutemoc, Teatro Aztlan, Grupo Folklorico de West Los Angeles and Mariachi Alma de Mexico.

lisa.sodders(at)dailynews.com

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IF YOU GO:

Ballet Folklorico Aztlan de CSUN will perform, 7-9:30 p.m. Friday at the Performing Arts Center at California State University, Northridge. Tickets are $15. Call [phone].

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Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) The Ballet Folklorico Aztlan de CSUN, at left, will take center stage Friday at the third annual Folklor de Mexico Music and Dance Concert on the Northridge campus. Founded in the '60s, the group disbanded after the 1994 Earthquake - re-forming three years later. Members, from left, are Emiliano Galicia, left, Marina Gonzalez, Maria Rosales, Diana Cabral, Daniel Rosales, and Leticia Guillem. Above, Gonzalez listens to group members discuss dance styles.

(3) Daniel Rosales gets ready for a Ballet Folklorico Aztlan de CSUN rehearsal on Tuesday. The group will take part in a folklorico show Friday that its members hope will showcase the diversity of Mexico's dance traditions.

(4 -- 5) Maria Rosales, above left, and Marina Gonzalez, right and below, apply some eye shadow before a Ballet Folklorico Aztlan de CSUN rehearsal. Part of the group's mission, Rosales says, is to expose people to the diversity of Mexican culture: ``With every performance, we educate more people.''

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News

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