Grupo Folklórico Miztontli is a student-run group that celebrates diversity at the University of Arizona and enriches multicultural understanding by teaching and promoting Mexican traditions and culture through folklórico dance awareness. Miztontli represents and showcases what the Mexican culture has to offer for the fine arts; promotes the overall well-being and growth of a person through a network of mutual support, dance instruction, and performances throughout the greater Tucson community; and provides a space that allows individuals to develop their leadership skills, public presentation and speaking skills, cultural awareness and understanding, discipline, and teamwork.

Started by Denise T. Garcia in the fall of 2006, Grupo Folklórico Miztontli is also the first and only folklórico student dance group at the University of Arizona. “Miztontli” is a word of Nahuatl origin that translates to “puma” or “cat”, which is the closest thing in that language to “Wildcat”.  Performance-wise, the group’s opening show took place in May 2007 at the UA Chicano/Hispano Graduation Convocation, an event in which we have participated ever since. Today, the group performs throughout the year all over the University and the Tucson communities, bringing small piece of the Mexican culture wherever we perform. Some of the group’s biggest performances include:

• The University of Arizona Hispanic Heritage Day Collegiate Athletics Football Game Halftime Show Day events (since 2009)
• The University of Arizona Bookstores Día de los Muertos event (2009-2012)
• International Day at the International School of Tucson (since 2010)
• Tucson Meet Yourself Festival (since 2011)
• Annual WMAT Tribal Fair, Parade, and Night Performance (2011, 2014, 2017, 2018)
• 1^st Annual National Folklórico Festival of Huayacocotla in Veracruz, Mexico (2018)
• The Tucson Botanical Garden’s Feast with the Dearly Departed (2018, 2019)
• The Miztontli Annual Showcase (since 2017)

Grupo Folklórico Miztontli also performs at private events and for community organizations, local K-12 schools, and multiple University of Arizona departments and events.

We are not just Wildcats, we are Miztontli!