The students donned traditional Mexican outfits for a Cinco de Mayo performance in Guadalupe Park on May 4. Under the guidance of schoolteacher Jason Dufenhorst, they had been practicing four different traditional dances as part of their Mexican folkloric dance class. Despite having performed before their parents at a presentation the prior Friday night, the students were nervous about their Sunday performance before a park full of strangers and a television camera operator from local Telemundo affiliate Channel 48.

"At first they were a little reluctant and they were very nervous about performing," said Dufenhorst, "but with a lot of practice they've gotten used to it, and they're very excited about it."

"We were more nervous today than before," said fifth-grader Gerardo Lopez at the May 4 festivities. "On Friday we just had to dance for our parents. But this time there were more people."

The noontime performance featured four dances, two from each grade. The fifth-grade boys wore short-sleeved shirts, jeans, boots and cowboy hats, while the girls wore bright white dresses with flowers in their hair. Their opening dance was Sauce ñ Palna, in which boys and girls danced with each other around the stage. Next the fourth-graders took to the stage to perform two dances, while the fifth-grade girls changed into dotted dresses for the final dance.

The fourth-graders wore traditional Aztec outfits with peacock feather headdresses, loincloths and clacking acorn-shell anklets. Their two dances were of Aztec influence. One dance was an invitation for the sun to come out—an appropriate performance, given that the day was overcast and occasionally rainy.

Considering they've been practicing one day a week for eight months, the students were very proud of themselves, said fourth-grader Stephanie Ortiz.

And so were their dance instructors, Rosa Olsen and Irma Ortiz.

"They've been practicing every week since September so they're pretty confident that they know the dances," said Olsen.

Dufenhorst said that the school has had traditional folkloric dancing for the past four years, but dance presentations were held only at the school. This year was the first opportunity for the class to perform at a public event.

"After so many years of working hard at learning the dances, I figured they deserved to be seen by more people than just their parents or teachers," he said.

The students say that they looked forward to rehearsals, which were every Friday, but that learning the dances was difficult in the beginning. But with practice came confidence. Now with no more presentations ahead of them for the immediate future, the fourth-graders said they're looking forward to learning new dances next year. But the fifth-graders will be moving on to middle school, where they can choose to enroll in a dance class.

Yet students in both grades have the same advice for the school's third-graders, who'll learn dances next year.

"Be sure to practice a lot," said fourth-grader Elias Rodriguez.

Fifth-grader Oscar Molar said, "It's hard at the beginning but near the end it's a lot of fun."