The Santa Maria High School Ballet Folklorico team took first place in the advanced category at the La Danza de los Negritos competition.
The competition was held in the Laces Theater in downtown Los Angeles over the weekend of Nov. 8 and 9.
The team was also awarded Most Outstanding Performance out of more than 50 groups. The eight artistic athletes were judged by masters of folklorico who knew exactly what the costumes should look like and steps should be.
“This is an amazing honor to have such hard-working students that are willing to commit hours and hours of practice outside of their normal school assignments,” the team’s dance teacher, Angel Hoyos, said.
This article appears in Nov 20-27, 2014.