Senderos dance group Centeotl Danza y Baile performs the traditional Flor de Piña (pineapple) dance from San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec, Oaxaca during our Vive Oaxaca Guelaguetza indigenous dance, music, food, artisan festival in Santa Cruz which annually attracts over 4500 audience members. photo credit: Urbino Quiroz Fotografia

Senderos

Oaxacan arts and culture

About the Organization

Senderos (formerly Vive Oaxaca) was founded in 2001 by indigenous Oaxacan sisters Fe Silva and Nereida Robles. They wanted Mexican immigrant youth to find cultural pride in the face of racism and avoid gang involvement and substance abuse. The organization, which incorporated as a nonprofit in 2013, provides equitable access to performing cultural arts instruction for primarily low-income, immigrant Latinx youth and young adults. Their programs include: the Ensamble Musical; the Día de los Muertos community festival with Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History; and Nido de Lenguas (Nest of Languages), a project with the UC Santa Cruz Humanities Institute and Linguistics Department centering the indigenous languages of Oaxaca. Senderos also organizes the annual La Guelaguezta in Santa Cruz, building a culture of acceptance, tolerance, and respect for an indigenous culture and showcasing the impact that parents, youth, teachers, and community leaders can build through collaboration and engagement.

 


Senderos Ensamble Musical at Evergreen Cemetery, Santa Cruz, for Día de los Muertos in 2020.

 


Living Cultures Grant

2022, 2021

Connecting to Our Roots: Mexican Traditional Dance and Music

In 2021 and 2022, Senderos received funding from ACTA’s Living Cultures Grant Program to provide free traditional Oaxacan banda de viento (wind band) music instruction and baile folklórico (Mexican folkloric dance) instruction for Latinx youth in Santa Cruz County.

2017

In 2017, a Living Cultures award will support free Mexican folkloric dance and traditional Oaxacan Banda de Viento music instruction for Latino immigrants.

2014

In 2014, Vive Oaxaca received a grant from ACTA’s Living Cultures Grants Program to support their annual La Guelaguetza. La Guelaguetza, which they have organized in Santa Cruz County for nearly a decade, is an indigenous celebration in which dances, rituals, music, languages, and cuisine are taught and shared among participants and audience members.

Senderos youth Board members Daisy Estrada Magana and Jazmin Gonzalez lead the Convite through downtown Santa Cruz, a traditional procession of dancers, musicians, mojigangas (large puppets), which happens the weekend before our annual Vive Oaxaca Guelaguetza indigenous cultural festival. photo credit: VisitaTuGente.com

Fe Silva Robles, Senderos Co-founder/Director and indigenous oaxaqueña, leads the Día de los Muertos festival procession from downtown Santa Cruz to Evergreen Cemetery where dancing, music, ofrendas, tamales await the community to celebrate Day of the Dead. This free community festival is co-presented by the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History and Senderos annually. photo credit: Kyer Wiltshire

Senderos infantil (youth) dancers of our Centeotl Danza y Baile folklorico group perform Cabeza de Cochino (pig's head) traditional Mayan dance from the Yucatan Peninsula at our Diciembre en México (December in Mexico) winter showcase performance. photo credit: Crystal Birns

Senderos Ensamble Musical banda de viento (wind band) getting ready to perform along with student musicians from Centro de Integración Social (CIS #8), Zoogocho, Oaxaca, who Senderos sponsors for a three-week visit each May to perform in our month-long Vive Oaxaca events. photo credit: Nopal Media

Senderos youth dancing at Guelaguetza. Photo by Urbano Quiroz, 2018.

Senderos Ensamble Musical plays for Open Streets Santa Cruz on West Cliff Drive. Photo by Bill Bishoff, 2018.

Senderos dancers at Ebb and Flow Festival at Tannery. Photo by Kyle Wiltshire, 2019.

Senderos Centeotl Danza y Baile at Branciforte Small Schools. Photo by Kevin Johnson SC Sentinel, 2017.

Next slide

Invest in California’s cultural wealth.

Every gift is a commitment to a culture bearer, and the people of California.

DONATE