TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Mexican history and heritage will take center stage Saturday evening at the Presidio San Agustin del Tucson Museum, where music, food and traditional dance will mark Mexican Independence Day.
The free celebration, scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m., will feature a Ballet Folklórico performance by Danzacultura Mexicana, mariachi music from Los Changuitos Feos and the traditional “El Grito,” or cry for independence, delivered by a representative of the Mexican Consulate. A lecture on the history of El Grito also is planned.
For dancer Sylvia Lopez, the performance is an opportunity to learn about the traditions behind the costumes and dances while helping preserve them.
“It’s awesome to learn from an instructor from Mexico,” Lopez said. “When we have these costumes and why to keep the tradition alive!”
Danzacultura Mexicana was founded by Carmen Baron, a Tucson artist whose work combines Mexican folk dance with the intricate craft of making traditional costumes.
The group’s performance at the Presidio carries particular historical significance. The original Presidio San Agustin was established in 1775 as a Spanish military fort. After Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821, the Mexican flag replaced the Spanish flag at the Tucson Presidio, which remained in use until U.S. forces entered Tucson in 1856.
“Everyone knows we were a Spanish fort, but people sometimes forget that we were a Mexican fort for 40 years as well,” said Kate Avalos, director of interpretive programming at the Presidio San Agustin del Tucson Museum.
Baron was born in Atil, Sonora, Mexico, and grew up in nearby Altar. She later moved to the United States and studied architecture at the University of Arizona while also pursuing Mexican folk dance. She eventually founded Danzacultura Mexicana in 1997 after the end of another Tucson folklórico group in which she danced.
“I grew up all the time listening to the music in the fiestas patrias,” Baron said. “When I came here, I said this is my time.”
Baron’s work extends beyond performing. She has made nearly all of the costumes worn by Danzacultura students, preserving traditional patterns and sewing techniques while teaching those skills to younger generations.
“They found out that I do my sewing, and they investigated me,” Baron said. “They came from Washington DC to see how to make a costume.”
That work helped earn Baron a 2025 National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship, the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. The NEA recognized her both as a Mexican folk costume maker and dancer.
For Baron, however, the recognition is secondary to the responsibility she feels to preserve her culture.
“I’m in charge of keeping our Mexican Culture through dance and through sewing — alive,” Baron said. “Passing it down to future generations so it doesn’t die.”
The Mexican Independence Day celebration will be held Saturday at the Presidio San Agustin del Tucson Museum, 196 N. Court Ave. Doors open at 5:45 p.m., with Danzacultura Mexicana scheduled to perform from 6 to 6:45 p.m.
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Eddie Celaya is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9. Born in Tucson and raised in the Phoenix area, Eddie is a life-long Arizonan and graduate of the University of Arizona who loves the desert and mountains and hates the cold. Previously, Eddie worked in print media at the Arizona Daily Star. Share your story ideas with Eddie at edward.celaya@kgun9.com, or by connecting on Facebook or Instagram.
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