Grupo Folclórico Macehuani started in August 2018 with just six dancers. Now the Indianapolis, Indiana, based Mexican folk dance group boasts over 40 members.
“The group’s mission is to educate our people and their families, but also other people that are not Mexican through our dances, music and storytelling,” says founder Carol Nuñez Verdín. With the popularity of the group, Verdín teaches dance to children and adults three times a week.
In 2021, she founded Grupo Folclórico Infantil Macehuani for children, with her friend Ana Rosa Hernandez.
Dance at the Center
Born and raised in Durango, Mexico, Verdín began her dance journey at six years old. Generations of her family were dancers, so it was natural calling.
Verdín’s family emigrated to the United States when she was 14. “Leaving my friends, some family members, my passion for dancing, and belongings behind…the change was very drastic for me to the point that I fell into depression,” she says.
In November 2014, she and her family attended the El Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration at the Indianapolis Art Center. That’s where she saw Ensemble Folklorico, a now-disbanded Mexican folk group in Indianapolis.
“When I left Mexico I thought that I was never going to dance again in my life, and when I saw them performing I felt like there was hope for me,” she says. “… It was like God was sending me another chance to continue to do what I love the most.”
A few weeks later she joined the group.
Taking Chances
“Ensemble [Folklorico] helped me overcome my sadness,” she says. “They saved me when it was most needed.”
When the group disbanded many years later, Verdín and her then husband founded a group which was very short-lived. Undaunted, her friends encouraged her to start another one: Grupo Folclórico Macehuani.“I was unsure and doubtful but decided to give it a chance,” she says. Grupo Folclórico Macehuani has since flourished.
Their accomplishments include performing at half-time shows for the city’s professional sport teams including the Indiana Pacers, Indianapolis Colts and Indianapolis Indians, as well as in cities across the Midwest. They have performed with the famous Mexican folk band Los Tigres del Norte in Chicago.
In June 2024, Grupo Folclórico Macehuani won the Adult Group category at Dancing in the Rockies, a prestigious national Mexican folk dance competition.
Of the success, she says, “I do feel that there has been an evolution of acceptance within the community and nationwide.” When she moved to the country, she says, there were fewer Hispanic people in Indianapolis than now. “Slowly our culture and traditions are getting more and more accepted.”
Grupo Folclórico Macehuani has played a role in that.Sharing her passion for dance with students and audiences, “…has become a very important component of my life,” she says. It has also become a popular mainstay in Indianapolis’s cultural fabric under her direction.