De Colores Mexican Folk Dance Company is a member of the National Institute for Latino Development and the Mexican Cultural Institute, and is available for performances during all occasions, including community-based events, private parties, and festivals. Contact our business manager for booking your event.

The long-range vision of de Colores is to establish an Instituto de Danza for adults and children in the Nation's Capital and to teach and train a future generation of artists.

These efforts will develop and broaden cultural and artistic diversity throughout our communities and enhance the understanding and appreciation of the cultural traditions of Mexico.

Rocio Jiménez
General Director

Miss Rocio Jiménez is one of the original folklóristas of Washington, D.C., having resided in the nation's capital for more than nine years. As a native of Mexico and ambassador of Mexican folklore, Miss Jiménez's focus has always been to share the richness of Mexican culture and heritage with the public. In her earlier years, she provided the seeds that helped the Maru Montero Dance Company get started. She went on to develop her own group, Jaliscience, in 1990, which was invited that same year to perform at a major event sponsored by the Mexican Embassy. In 1993, Ms. Jiménez teamed up with Enrique Ortíz on his project, Las Tapatios, before joining De Colores Mexican Folk Dance Company to become one of its key leaders.

Enrique A. Chaurand Jr.
Artistic Director DeColores

Mr. Chaurand began dancing at the age of 4 years old with his mother's dance group in Kansas City, Missouri, El Ballet Folklorico Atotonilco. Under her instruction, Mr. Chaurand learned the art of Mexican Folklorico and began to develop a deep love and passion for it. At the age of 14, he became the head instructor for the Ballet Folklorico Atotonilco and later studied ballet folklorico at the University of Guadalajara and at El Instituto de Artes Cabañas in Guadalajara. During his time in Guadalajara he danced under the direction of Raul Valdez Palido. Mr. Chaurand has also danced with and instructed El Ballet Folklorico Quetzali of Xalapa, Veracruz, and served as an instructor for the Asociacion Nacional de Grupos Folkloricos National Conference in Kansas City, 1997. Mr. Chaurand has a B.A. in Journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and currently serves as the Public Affairs Specialist for Secretary Donna E. Shalala.

Adriana Martínez
Co-Founder

Miss Adriana Martínez arrived in Washington, D.C. in 1994, and founded De Colores Mexican Folk Dance Company in 1996. She discovered her love for Mexican dance with El Ballet Folklórico de Stanford in 1990, where she was featured as a principal dancer and singer. She has trained with folk dance masters Ramón Morones, Susan Cashion, and Rafael Zamarripa, and danced with El Ballet Folklórico Mexicano de Carlos Moreno in Oakland, California. She has participated in the Asociación Nacional de Grupos Folklóricos (ANGF), a bi-national organization that promotes Mexican folklore, in workshops and training since 1993. In 1998 Miss Martínez received an Individual Artists Award from the DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities to attend the ANGF conferences in Aguascalientes, MX. Miss Martínez received a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Affairs from Stanford University in 1993, and completed the CORO Foundation Fellowship Program in Public Affairs in 1994. She dedicates her accomplishments in the Arts to her mother, Esther Morones, and to the memory of her father, Antonio Martínez.

De Colores Mexican Folk Dance Company is a member of the National Institute for Latino Development and the Mexican Cultural Institute, and is available for performances during all occasions, including community-based events, private parties, and festivals. Contact our business manager, Irma Martinez for booking your event. She and De Colores can be reached at 301-625-5200.