Mexican folk dancer and choreographer, Amalia Hernandez, was born on Sept. 19, 1917 in Mexico City, Mexico. She choreographed more than 40 ballets that incorporated local dance traditions from some 60 regions of Mexico.
Amalia Hernandez via kwout
Although she was trained in classical ballet, Hernandez decided to specialize in native Mexican dance. She founded the Ballet Folklorico in 1952.
Under her leadership, the company became the largest and most widely respected Mexican dance company in the world. Ballet Folklorico de Mexico has been seen by more than 22 million people since its inception and still performs to this day. It has more than 300 members, significantly more than the eight it began with.
Hernandez remained deeply involved in the dance company all her life, until her death in 2000 at age 83.