CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A cultural dance workshop spanning 4 days at the Antonio Garcia Center in Corpus Christi is celebrating more than a decade of honoring a young woman who championed dance, culture, and education.
The Tasia Marie Silvas Memorial Scholarship hosts the annual Folklorico workshop in memory of Tasia Marie Silvas, who battled cancer and died about 21 years ago. Her mother, Anna Marie Silvas, serves as executive director of the scholarship and said the event reflects her daughter's passions.
"She was an advocate for dance, cultural, and education," Anna Marie Silvas said.
The workshop, now in its approximately 10th year at the Garcia Center, is sponsored by the West Side Business Association and the Corpus Christi Cultural Arts Commission through a HOT funds grant.
The 4-day schedule includes:
- Today – Introduction to Folklorico for ages 6 and up (afternoon session open to ages 12 and up)
- Friday – Bachata and salsa
- Saturday – Veracruz, instructed by a maestro from Jalapa, Veracruz
- Sunday – Tamaulipas dances, taught by a maestro from Laredo
Teachers and school instructors are also encouraged to attend to learn the dances and bring them back to their classrooms.
Registration is available on-site. Daily registration opens at 8 a.m., with classes running from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. A lunch break is held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The remaining sessions are geared toward intermediate to advanced dancers, with participants generally ages 13 and up.
The cost is $60 per course, with a 20% discount for those who register for more than one.
The workshop also serves as a fundraiser for the scholarship, which Silvas said was started about 15 years ago by her daughter's sisters from the LULAC Feria de las Flores.
"It's continued, it's grown every year," Silvas said.
This weekend, the scholarship is preparing to award its 20th scholarship to a Roy Miller High School graduate and its 21st to an AC Jones High School graduate.
Applications are sent to schools in Corpus Christi, Beeville, and Portland. Workshop attendees from anywhere in Texas — including Dallas, the Rio Grande Valley, and Austin — are also eligible to apply.
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