by Duncan Tonatiuh
 
As a child, Amalia Hernández watched a group of dancers in the town square. The way they stomped and swayed and moved to the rhythm of the beat inspired her. She knew she would become a dancer one day.

Amalia studied ballet and modern dance under the direction of the best teachers in the world, but she never forgot the folk dance she’d seen long ago. After scouring the Mexican countryside and witnessing the dances of many cultures, Amalia gathered them all, along with ballet and modern dance, and launched her own dance company, a group that became known as Ballet Folklorico de Mexico, the Mexican Folkloric Ballet.