"Our ancestors passed this down to us for a reason": information practices of ballet folklórico dancers in Mexican-American communities

Abstract

PurposeThis paper explores informational dimensions of dancing by focusing on the cases of two folk dance groups practicing Mexican ballet folklórico in the US.Design/methodology/approachThematic analysis of (1) extensive recollections from one of the study's coauthors, an academic librarian who was an active member of a ballet folklórico group; (2) an interview with that coauthor's brother, who is the current director of this school; and (3) instructional and demonstrative videos posted on YouTube by two US-based ballet folklórico groups.FindingsBallet folklórico dancers must use a wide range of information. The most important is sociocultural information, which expert dancers display while dancing and help novices acquire as enacted, expressed, or recorded information. According to expert dancers, sociocultural information becomes increasingly embodied through repeated enactment and constant interaction with ambient information. Specifically, ambient information provides parameters that both enable and limit the performance of the dance.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the emergent Library and Information Science (LIS) literature on dancing and its informational aspects.