Maria de Jesus Gonzales Laguna was born in Guanajuato, Mexico in 1969. Gonzales Laguna became interested in Mexican Folklore through her adolescent experiences of rural and city lifeways. In 1992 Gonzales Laguna received a Fine Arts degree from the Casa de la Cultra de Celaya, got married, and moved to the United States.

Gonzales Laguna’s passion for Mexican Folklore has been teaching her family and others who have either moved away from Mexico or  are of Mexican heritage. Gonzales Laguna provides the geographic, historical, and cultural context of each region in Mexico while teaching traditional clothing techniques, music, and dance styles. She and her students perform for individuals for Latino communities and also invite people from other cultural backgrounds to learn and participate in traditional Mexican arts.

Please visit this link to see a video with examples of traditional Mexican dance narrated in both English and Spanish.