When her marriage ended 12 years ago, Paty Pierce took her nine-year-old daughter, Sydney Pierce, to a dance class where they learned to dance as a way to mend their broken hearts. “The divorce was tough and I wanted to see my daughter’s heart healed. I had always wanted to learn the dances of my country and this was my chance.”
Dancing transformed their lives and today this mother-daughter team runs the Desierto de Colores Ballet Folklorico in Holbrook. Sydney, a 2015 graduate from Joseph City High School, is the lead dance instructor while Paty is the director.
Born in Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, Paty’s dad moved the family to Holbrook when she was two years old. Since then she has spent most of her life in and around the Holbrook area.
While she now lives in Joseph City with Sydney, Paty’s heart is in Holbrook. “I have a lot of memories of Holbrook throughout my life. The people, the city, the chamber, they have all been good to us and have really supported us since we took over the dance group in 2015.”
In 2012, Katrina Jaime started Las Joyas del Desierto and in 2015 under the new direction of Paty and Sydney, the name was changed to Desierto de Colores Ballet Folklorico, which translates to Colors of the Desert. Jose Soto, owner of Tradiciones Dance Company in Phoenix, also became a vital part of the new dance group, mentoring Paty and Sydney to become better instructors and taking the dancers to new levels.
For the past two years Paty and Sydney have attended the Asociacion Nacional de Grupos Folkloricos (ANGF). This summer they were able to take four dancers, Mia Iguado, Araceli Aguilera, Lucia Morales and Alexa Quezada, to Phoenix with them to attend the conference.
“It was like a dance boot camp,” said Paty. “There were 500 people there from all over and we were immersed into the cultures and the dancing.”
At the end of the ANGF conference, the Desierto de Colores dancers, Mia, Alexa, Sydney and Paty, were chosen to dance with five other groups in a showcase that fully celebrated all the regions represented. “It was an amazing opportunity for us,” said Sydney, who dreams of someday being able to teach the dances in the schools. “I would like to see more students from the Hispanic culture being a part of this and to make it even bigger than it is right now. It is a way to preserve and understand our heritage; to be proud of who and what we are.”
Last October the group danced at Disneyland representing Holbrook. Every summer they can be found dancing at the corner of Navajo Boulevard and Hopi Drive on Friday nights. They have danced in the Route 66 Festival and the Parade of Lights. “We usually dance at the Navajo County Fair as well,” noted Paty.
With the start of the school year a new dance season is beginning and Desierto de Colores is welcoming new dancers. “We would love to have more adults as well as men and boys,” shared Paty. “The men’s dance style is different from the women’s and it is fun to have that interaction.”
The group has been extremely fortunate to have Soto come to Holbrook usually twice a year to teach a dance workshop to the students. Soto has a way of instilling a love for dance in his students and according to Paty, he has been a big inspiration for everyone who attends.
The cost per month is $25 per student, which includes at least twice weekly dance training and practices. The Desierto de Colores meets at the Holbrook Community Center next to the library, with the first dance practice began on Aug. 6. For more information, call or text Paty at (928) 587-2582.
