Step lively, folks

Each afternoon when Adriana Astorga-Gainey leaves the Los Angeles classroom where she teaches third grade, she picks up her two children – ages 3 and 6 – and then …

Let her tell it:

"I play mommy for a couple of hours, then I'm off for my other job," she said in a recent telephone interview during her mommy time.

That other job? She is founder and artistic director of the Pacifico Dance Company, California's premier Mexican folklorico dance ensemble, which will perform Wednesday at the Mondavi Center.

Astorga-Gainey was born in Los Angeles but is steeped in the tradition and culture of Mexico.

"I'm not a native of Mexico," she said, "but my parents were born and raised there, and I've traveled there a lot."

She spent each summer in Mexico City growing up, and was introduced to Mexican dance by the National Ballet Folklorico School, directed by the legendary Mexican dancer Amalia Hernández. Astorga-Gainey also trained at La Escuela de Danza Mizoc, the Mexico City dance institute engaged in research and perpetuation of traditional Mexican dance. She took master classes in classical ballet, got a bachelor's degree from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and a teaching credential before founding her dance company in 1992.

"We're going on 17 years," Astorga-Gainey said, "and it was … less stressful then. It's always been like a big family, and we've stuck together through thick and thin. All the dancers do this for the love of the art, for the love of our culture."

Times were more "thin" in the beginning, she admitted. "We danced in front of grocery stores and in a parking lot – anywhere just to get our name out there.

"Through the years, there have been new faces, but the spirit is still there, and the passion. The only thing different is that we're now in very nice venues."

Yes, things have been more "thick" in recent years. The troupe is now 40 strong – 19 dancers and 10 musicians will perform at the Mondavi Center – and Astorga-Gainey was awarded a 2003 California DanceMaker grant. Pacifico was the first Mexican American folklorico company to tour Asia when, in 2001, it performed in North Korea and China.

"The reception was wonderful," she said. "They were so open. I found out that they just love anything that has to do with Mexico. When we were in China, there were students who came backstage and spoke to us in perfect Spanish."

The dance company presented the same type of show in Asia as it does in the States – a tour of Mexico, featuring the music and movement, the culture and color of various states in that country to our south.

"Mexico is so rich in culture – and so big," Astorga-Gainey said. "Regions or states have their own unique costumes and music, and we try to represent those we can as accurately as we can. Some of the states, because they border each other may have similar costumes and some of the dances, of course, are influenced by history (of colonization and settlement)."

Dances of the northern region of Mexico exhibit a more European influence, of polka and ballroom dancing; the southeastern coast has influences from Spain, Africa and the Caribbean. The ancient dances of the Mayans and Aztecs also survive.

"I pick and choose (from the dances of the various regions) to make sure the audience gets a very good representation of the variety of the style," she said. The dances range from "say, Vera Cruz, where it's spicy, to a coastal dance that's more soothing. In Jalisco, the music is just big – the steps are big, the music is big – it's very high- energy."

The program at the Mondavi Center – which will include performances by singer Perla Batalla and by Pacifico's resident musical group, Mariachi Los Torros – is scheduled to include, among others, "Los Concheros," in which pre-Hispanic and Roman Catholic religions are fused; "Sones de Michoacan," which depicts the beauty of nature of the southern state, where fishing, agriculture and mining predominate; "Feria Chiapaneca," a series of celebratory dances that honor Doña Maria de Angulo, who, according to Chiapas legend was a Spanish noble woman whose ill son was cured and who, out of gratitude, distributed food to nearby villagers during a time of drought; and "Viva Jalisco," which includes mariachi and the Mexican hat dance.

PACIFICO DANCE COMPANY

WHAT: Folklorico dance ensemble

WHEN: 8 p.m. Wednesday

WHERE: Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center, UC Davis

TICKETS: $24-$39 general, $12-$19.50 students and children

INFORMATION: (530) 754-2787, (866) 754-2787 (toll-free)

About the writer:

• Call The Bee's Jim Carnes, (916) 321-1130.