Beneath layers of blush, white lace and a candle atop perfectly gelled hair, Gema Magaña got ready to perform “La Bruja” — a traditional dance from the Mexican state of Veracruz — for a Tuesday night crowd in downtown Legacy Park.

Gema, 16, is a Mexican-American junior ballet folklórico dancer at Brackenridge High School. Dreaming of twirling in skirts since she was little, she felt grateful to be performing, especially since the ballet folklórico program at San Antonio Independent School District was in danger of ending during the last school year.

“I’ve always wanted to learn ballet folklórico and try to keep tradition alive, no matter how modern we get. Our past is how we learn,” she said. “Ballet folklórico kind of reminds me that I’m human … It reminds me that I’m allowed to be pass

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