By Brynna Williamson
Silvia Reyes is a dancer. In fact, she’s always loved it, she says. “I love to dance.” It’s as simple as that. Well, sort of.
1981
When Reyes’ family moved to Mineola, Texas from Durango, Mexico in 1981, little Silvia was just a four-year-old toddler. Reyes and her family have been here ever since. “I love it here. This is home, definitely, for me,” she said.
Today in her Wood County, Texas hometown, Reyes works as a dispatcher for Sanderson Farms. However, this doesn’t mean that’s all she does. Reyes also stays very busy as a board member of Ramey Water Supply and Rose Hill Community Food Pantry, as well as a volunteer for the Mineola Chamber of Commerce. She used to be a board member of a Mineola faith-based charity, too.
In fact, Reyes’ many commitments and involvement with the City of Mineola is why, when someone asked how they could make Mineola, Texas’ “May Fiesta Day” (now “Fiesta de Mayo”) more interesting or authentic, they turned to Silvia, who plunged in with both feet—literally.
2018
Although it might be a more interesting story if Reyes had had to go through layers of red tape and bureaucracy to bring her idea for a dancing group to life, the reality of the situation is that she feels like the idea for the Folkloric Legacy of Mineola dance group fell into her lap.
The Mineola Chamber of Commerce and Pastor Demethrius Boyd of Mineola’s St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church approached Reyes in 2018, saying that “they wanted to do a Fiesta Day.”
“The first year, I was like, ‘Uh, wait a minute. You know, this needs to go a little more colorful,’” said Reyes. In Spanish, she continued, “I wanted the roots of our culture to be presented in this event, so I was like, ‘Oh my gosh—I am going to do this (dancing idea).’” What followed is an interesting adventure indeed.
“Ok, so get this. At that time, I knew nothing about Folkloric; I knew nothing about how to do it! So I was like, I’m going to try to study it,’” said Reyes with a smile.
Her first step in creating an authentic Mexican dancing group was to get ahold of a woman from Guanajuato, Mexico, who makes the special “double-layered” skirts that Reyes and the other dancers wear. After she purchased the skirts with funds out of her own pocket, Reyes and her friend, Elena Pinajero started looking at videos.
Armed only with information gleaned from Pinajero’s nephew (a dancer) and from their videos, Reyes and Pinajero got eight friends to come learn how to do Folkloric Legacy dancing with them.
That’s how simply Wood County’s Folkloric Legacy of Mineola dance group started: YouTube videos, skirts that Reyes paid for herself, and friends who committed to come dance with her.
“To see the excitement, and their faces–to see that they wanted to bring this into Mineola (was big),” said Reyes. “I knew that (between) my excitement and theirs, we would make it.”
2025
Reyes was right. Today, the Folkloric Legacy of Mineola is still thriving, stretching, and growing. Not only is the group still active, but they’re actually looking to expand and achieve their official nonprofit status soon!
As of June, the group charges absolutely nothing for organizations to host their dances, although they do accept donations to help cover the girls’ time, cost of their skirts, gas, etc. Whether it’s a church, a school, a nursing home, or a citywide event, they’re glad to do it all.
You know what else is great? Although Reyes founded the group to be a place where Mexican heritage can be kept alive, she and her fellow dancers are really purposeful about making it a joyful place of celebration for girls of all races and nationalities.
“(A lot of) African Americans are like… ‘Can I join?’ and I’m like, ‘Yes, yes!!’” said Reyes with a laugh. “Oh, absolutely, (anyone from any culture can dance with us). Why not? That’s really bringing in a different mindset, is that you can join us, and we can join you, and we can be part of one group!” In fact, Reyes says they would even love for guys to come dance with their group. After all, wouldn’t it be even more fun to watch couples having a blast?
It might have been a “spur of the moment” idea, but Reyes founded the Folkloric Legacy of Mineola dance group with advice from long ago ringing in her ears—advice that she heard as a child, from the judge who presided over the oath of citizenship ceremony for Reyes and about 150 others that day. “He did say, ‘Do not, do not let go of your culture. Do not let go of who you are. Keep it, bring it, because that’s diversity, and we need it here in America.’ And so it stuck with me,” she said.
And she’s proud of her group! After all, it’s all about joyous celebration. It all revolves around bouncy music, colorful skirts, smiling faces, and people who, behind the dances, are still actual friends.
“We just want to show people that, you know what? Our culture? This is it!” said Reyes. “We’re still here. We’re still alive, and we’re going to continue as long as we’re given the opportunity to show off what Mexico’s about.” Reyes is hoping to raise funds soon for some new skirts. If you would like to get in contact with Reyes or the group, you can look up their Facebook page or call Reyes at 903-569-4903.