Meet Nadia Arambula | Artistic Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nadia Arambula and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nadia, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
To be honest, it was not my intention to pursue an artistic or creative career. Creativity has always been in my family, my dad is an innate carpenter/furniture designer, and my mom a multifaceted woman who was always creating and manifesting small businesses and great ideas. I think that impacted me, not only in what I do, but in who I am.

Since I was little, my parents saw in me the passion for the folklorico dance, and when I was five years old, they enrolled me in a summer camp class. Right after, I got selected to join a prestigious academy in my city, Guadalajara, Jalisco, in Mexico. Since then, I’ve been dancing Ballet Folklorico. At the age of nine years old, I started teaching and creating my own choreographies. And at the age of sixteen, I officially became a professional dance instructor, and also designed my group’s outfits. I think that my passion and my belief in who I am and what I do, has led me into an artistic and creative career.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My Art is dance and creativity. I am a Mexican traditional folklorico dancer. This art shows the history, diversity, richness, and colorfulness of Mexican culture throughout its dances and customs. I dance as a profession, teach and lead the folklorico dance group, choreograph our dances, and design our outfits.

I think each person that does similar work as me has something special to offer in the Mexican folklorico world. I would say that I offer to each of the dancers my passion, my desire for excellence, my inspiration, my commitment, and my discipline. I do these with the intention of developing not just graceful and confident dancers, but their character.

What makes me proud and excited is seeing the process of the development of each of my dancers, especially when they get on a stage to perform and to show the work that they have been doing for months, and most of them, for years. Also brings me great satisfaction to see my dancer’s family be proud of their child after all the commitment to the group everytime they watch their children perform.

I am convinced that I was made for the art of the folklorico dance! Being sure of my ability has helped me persevere and overcome the difficulties. My confidence in the work that I do attracts people that believe in me and in what I have to offer to the world. They support me and my dance group. All these have helped me in my success. Of course it was not easy, and it will continue to not be easy. There have been many challenges in the process of my profession. I overcome each of them with my faith, and also by reminding myself that this is part of who I am. The passion for this art, the people that believe in my talent, including my daughter, are my motivation to continue with this work. I also overcome the challenges by being flexible and adaptable to the circumstances. My creativity also plays a big role against the difficulties I face, because it is in the difficult moments when my creativity helps me to find solutions by creating new ideas.

One of the lessons I have learned is that, no matter if I lose what I have worked and built for many years, I will never lose my dream because the passion and the talent will always be inside of me. Therefore, I will always be able to rebuild my dream as many times as necessary. The beauty of rebuilding is that everytime I do it, it gets better and with better results. And another lesson I have learned is that my success does not depend on a specific person, it depends on me, and the quality of my work.
I want the world to know that this art and talent that I have is only a tool for me to grow and develop my own person, not for my own benefit, but for the benefit of my dancers, their families, and the people we share our culture with.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would take them to Old Town in San Diego, since that’s the best place to explore Mexican culture and view the world as if you were visiting pre-colonized California. Here, you can experience the art I share, Mexican folklorico dance.

I love San Diego! And I am privileged to live in this beautiful city! As I mentioned, we would first visit Old Town. We would eat, drink, and hang out there all day enjoying the live Mariachi music and the Mexican folklorico dance. We would also go to SeaPort Village on a sunny day, we would enjoy the bay view, the variety of the souvenir shops, and a delicious ice cream. Our next visit would be Balboa Park for a learning experience by exploring its museums. I love San Diego in general, it has a variety of places to visit for enjoyment, recreation, for a learning experience, or just for relaxation. (e.g., Old Town, Balboa Park, Seaport Village, Coronado Island, and La Jolla).

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Definitely my parents! They deserve my shoutout and recognition! They discovered my passion for folklorico dance. Not only that, they took action by introducing me to this type of Art and supported me through the process. My shoutout is also to each of my teachers/instructors that taught me, inspired me, and helped in the development of one of my inborn talents which is the Mexican folklorico dance. On the other hand, my shoutout is also to my dancers (including my beautiful daughter), and my dancer’s parents for believing in the talent that I share with them. My dancers are my motive to continue working hard, and creating new ideas to teach them so we can all share with the audience during our performances. Last but not least, my shoutout is to the people and organizations that support my group, Ballet Folklorico El Tapatio de San Dieguito. All these people together, helped me to make one of my dreams come true.

Website: https://www.balletfolkloricoeltapatio.com/?fbclid=IwAR1TFeNIy5Hk8_V2uQgdXgWLzIqxSu0GspcGXi1jwdpbToJDn_6XWb3W-6k

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/balletfolklorico.eltapatio/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BalletFolkloricoElTapatio

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMlAe_Aw-QcPtiJDJ0TpqPg/featured

Image Credits
Patrick Christman Valentina Serrano