James Foley’s natural ability to take the lead led him to starting his own dance festival.
In 2009, Foley, executive director of Guanábana Productions, spoke of his inkling to create an outdoor dance festival to anyone who could be of help in developing it.
With the aid of John Mancini and a 10-person board, the non-profit organization was created to serve as a foundation for the Albuquerque Latin Dance Festival.
As opposed to most dance festivals, Foley said his intent was to showcase a variety of dance styles that can be categorized as Latin. Since he was not committed to any one dance style or studio, Foley said he felt like he was entering what was “virgin territory” before last year.
“We’re all becoming a little more beige as the world becomes more networked and interactive,” he said. “It’s a salsa festival at heart, but it’s offering much more with the addition of flamenco, tango, folklorico, [dances that] are not always finding expression in salsa festivals.”
Although his peers asked him to rein in his vision and enthusiasm, Foley said he was reluctant to edit down the project too quickly. His reticence paid off with a wildly successful first year, he said.
Since the festival’s premiere, Foley said he has seen new studios pop up and seen other signs of growth in the Latin dance community, which he said is evidence of the festival’s magnitude. This and the thousands who attended the festival throughout the week were not the only markers of success.
Foley said the National Hispanic Cultural Center expressed interest in making it a signature event, and two weeks ago the Albuquerque Conventions and Visitors Bureau contacted him about making it a major destination event like Balloon Fiesta.
“This is a big part of our identity,” Foley said. “You’re celebrating a national export of so many Latin American countries. It’s a product, their music, their dance, their culture, their artistry. Whether you’re Latin in spirit or by blood, I think it’s a great thing to celebrate.”
A health crisis that Foley said brought him near death in February, and his associate director, Shawn Claude Muller, own health issues threatened to stunt the festival’s growth.
These turned out to be blessings in disguise, Foley said, as they used the time off from their paying jobs to work on the festival.
“Even during the first year of the festival I knew that I was living with cancer, so finally this year I went through rounds of chemotherapy,” he said. “I experienced an incredible turnaround in my health and went back to work three months ago. I was riddled with cancerous tumors. The irony is that my associate had knee surgery three weeks ago, and his doctor wouldn’t allow him to go back to work.”
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Round two of the festival shows promise for a bigger and better turnout, Foley said. While he is considering working with other organizations in the future, he said the outsiders will have to stick with follow-the-leader to avoid sullying Guanábana Productions’ goal: to develop and celebrate New Mexico’s Latin dance culture.
“Honestly, what it comes down to is the people doing the work really should have the most say in it,” he said. “I don’t see any resistance to making this another wildly successful year or in the future. I think in this case, the bigger the better as long as we don’t lose the hometown feel, as long as we can stand by what we portray as being Albuquerque and New Mexico in general.”
