Folklórico finds its footing at NAU

When Grupo Folklórico Estrellas del Pinar takes the stage, it’s easy to focus on the sweep of the skirts, the rhythm of the footwork, the precision of it all. Look closer, and it’s something else entirely.

“It’s more than just a dance,” says founder and president Kevin Pareja, ’27. “We’re telling a story about our past, our heritage, and our culture.”

Founded in fall 2025, the student group has quickly grown to 50 members, welcoming dancers of all experience levels. Some arrive with years of training; others are learning the moves for the first time.

In folklórico, each dance represents a specific region of Mexico, with its own style, music, and meaning. In the Nayarit Mestizo region—Pareja’s favorite—a dance called “La Majahua” mimics the native chachalaca bird, skirts sweeping and lifting to create the illusion of wings in motion.

In Veracruz, dancers wear all white—practical for the region’s hot, tropical climate, and evocative of the ocean’s white foam.

Even the group’s name is rooted in place. Estrellas del Pinar—“stars of the pine trees”— nods to Flagstaff’s dark skies and surrounding forests, tying Mexican tradition to the northern Arizona landscape.

Pareja began dancing just four years ago, not yet knowing his maternal great-great-grandparents were folklórico dancers in Jalisco.

“It’s a way for me to connect to my roots,” he says.

That sense of connection extends to the group itself, which Pareja describes as a family.

Now, Estrellas del Pinar is setting its sights beyond campus. The group will compete in a national folklórico competition in Austin, Texas, in spring 2027—the first group from Arizona to participate, representing both NAU and the state.