Every Friday night and Saturday morning outside of the Sierra Tower, the clacking of dance shoes against concrete pavement can be heard as a group of dancers gather to practice folklorico, a Mexican cultural dance.
Ballet Folklorico Aztlan de CSUN, or BFA de CSUN, was created in the 1960s during the Chicano movement, designed to combat inequality and uplift their identity. It has existed on campus for over half a century.
Despite their cultural roots and longstanding relationship with the university, BFA de CSUN has long struggled to find room to practice. Advisor and Coach Diana Cabral has been a club member for nearly 30 years, but her group has never been able to use a room consistently.
“All these years, I’ve been through many conversations, many meetings, stories on the Sundial, writing emails, talking with people, all different levels,” Cabral said. “As you know, we still practice outside.”
The introduction of the Time, Place and Manner Policy, later ratified into the CSUN Addendum, only deepened the organization’s struggles to find an appropriate place to practice. According to Cabral, the addendum restructured the campus into private property, limited-use areas, and public space, further limiting the outdoor areas where they could practice.
Cabral expressed concerns for the well-being of the club members. Practicing improper conditions, such as concrete ground
unaccommodating for dance shoes, can affect dancers’ knees and backs.
“Our knees are getting the brunt of the problem,” she said. “We’re hurting ourselves because we’re stomping so much, our backs, everything. We’re at the point where someday we just cannot handle being outside anymore. That would mean we would have to go off campus and rent, and why should we be paying?”
While the struggles have heavily weighed on the team, Coach Cabral understands that one key concern with BFA de CSUN being provided a room to practice is the style of their shoes. The shoes have small nails on the heel and toe that create sound. These nails mark up the floors and, over time, can damage the flooring.
The group was offered rooms at the Soraya for a monthly rental fee, though other campus dance clubs have free spaces. Adding community members to the group has made finding a designated practice area more difficult. CSUN has stricter requirements for community members who are not actively attending CSUN.
Club President Esmeralda De La Rosa says the club can compromise on timing and the type of shoes they wear to practice, but including their community members is non-negotiable.
“They wouldn’t be allowed to practice in the room, which is one thing we’re not willing to sacrifice, because they’ve always been a part of the group,” De La Rosa said.
De La Rosa has expressed their need to find a room and is disappointed by the perceived lack of support from CSUN.
“We definitely need a room, especially because this floor that we dance on outside is not meant to be danced on,” De La Rosa said. “I think there should be a way to be able to get a room without having all these obstacles come in the way… I think we contribute a lot to CSUN, and so it’s unfortunate that we haven’t gotten the support to be able to simply get a room.”
