A TCU junior will get to share her passion and culture Wednesday when she performs at the fourth annual Reconciliation Day.
An accomplished and recognized ballet folklorico performer, Claudia Tiffany Rodriguez was asked to perform an encore after her crowd-pleasing performance last year.
“She is a cultural ambassador for Folklorico dance and she uses every opportunity to advocate and promote Hispanic culture,” said Dr. Amiso George, chair of TCU’s Race and Reconciliation Initiative (RRI). “That passion to entertain and educate audiences about her culture is another colorful thread stitched to the fabric that makes TCU a welcoming place for all.”
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RRI is TCU’s effort to investigate and acknowledge its racial history. On Reconciliation Day, the committee shares its findings from a year in research and reflection. The effort is academically based and includes faculty, staff, students and alumni. TCU is one more than 100 universities worldwide studying the implications of slavery and racism and their history.
A Fort Worth native, Rodriguez grew up with a passion for her culture and started dancing folklorico around the age of five or six, later competing as a teen. Her childhood dreams of attending TCU have now led to being an accomplished and recognized folklorico performer.
“At the age of 14, I started doing competitive folklorico and around age 18, I became a soloist,” Rodriguez said. “With that passion, I have done my own investigations and have studied with instructors from Mexico who come to give folklorico workshops.”
Dr. Pablo Montes, assistant professor in the College of Education who has a background in the Mexicayotl tradition, said these performances are important cultural expressions because “dance is inherently tied to who we are and where our community comes from.”
“These dances offer insight into the vastness of our cultures and how through our bodily movements, we create community and transform our spaces,” Montes said. “These are the aspects that dance in the cultural tradition can offer the TCU community.”
In addition to Rodriguez’s display of cultural beauty and artistry, Reconciliation Day will feature performances from Mariachi Sangre Royal and Word of Truth Gospel Choir. The festivities will also include selections from Hedary’s Food Truck and Rita’s Ice.
Reconciliation Day events will be held from 12-1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10 in the Intellectual Commons.
