The Ballet Folklórico de Durango performs around the Four Corners, including this performance during Fiesta on the Mesa at Fort Lewis College in September. The group is trying to raise money to continue offering dance lessons and performances to young people of Hispanic heritage and those who want to learn more about the culture. A steak-dinner fundraiser will be held Friday night.
The Ballet Folklórico de Durango performs around the Four Corners, including this performance during Fiesta on the Mesa at Fort Lewis College in September. The group is trying to raise money to continue offering dance lessons and performances to young people of Hispanic heritage and those who want to learn more about the culture. A steak-dinner fundraiser will be held Friday night.Jerry McBride/Durango Herald file photo

Over the Cinco de Mayo weekend, with performances at Gazpacho’s New Mexican Restaurant and as the opening act for Ballet Folklórico de Veracruz “Quetzalli,” organizers managed to raise about $800.

With a bare-bones operational approach, that will get them through the fall, said Shirena Trujillo Long, director of the Centro de Muchos Colores at Fort Lewis College, which oversees the cultural dance troupe.

The 20-year-old dance group has had a tough time finding a home, first founded by the Durango Educational Latino Coalition before becoming part of the Durango Education Center when it took over Del Alma, the Latino Coalition’s successor. El Centro signed a memo of understanding in 2014 to take over the group and merge it with its Club Ballet Folklórico. But tight finances at the college means the group must be self-sustaining.

Because it would be better to have the 2015-16 budget in hand, Jerry Martinez, owner of CJ’s Diner, has opened his restaurant for a steak-dinner fundraiser Friday night, with the goal of raising $2,000. Reservations are required, as the space and the number of steaks is limited.

Donations also are being accepted still at the Fort Lewis College Foundation.

The ballet offers young people of Hispanic heritage a chance to get to know their culture better, said founder DeeDee de Haro Brown in May, adding that it’s also a visible – and colorful representation – of the diversity of the area.

abutler@ durangoherald.com

If you go

A few spaces remain for the steak dinner with all the fixin’s fundraiser for Ballet Folklórico de Durango, which will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Friday at CJ’s Diner, 810 E. College Drive. Reservations are required and may be made by calling Shirena Trujillo Long at 749-1508.
The suggested donation is $100 to $500 per couple. Donations are tax-deductible.
Donations also may be mailed to the Fort Lewis College Foundation, 1000 Rim Drive, Durango, CO 81301, with Ballet Folklórico on the memo line.