Rosa Ramirez Guerrero (born November 14, 1934) is a Mexican American educator, artist and historian from

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

. She was the founder of the International Folklorico Dance Group. Guerrero has also been active with work in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, and has been called the "Dancing Missionary" in religious circles. She is also known for her multicultural dance programs which have been performed around the country and featured in a film called ''Tapestry''. She was inducted into the

Texas Women's Hall of Fame The Texas Women's Hall of Fame was established in 1984 by the Governor's Commission on Women. The honorees are selected biennially from submissions from the public. The honorees must be either native Texans, or a resident of Texas at the time of th ...

and has an El Paso school named after her.

Biography

Guerreo was born and raised in

. Her parents had migrated from Mexico. Guerrero began learning to dance at five years of age. As a child, she had been punished for speaking

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

in school. Guerrero's first school was Morehead Elementary School, where she decided she wanted to be an "educator" in third grade. She went to

El Paso High School El Paso High School is the oldest operating high school in El Paso, Texas, and is part of the El Paso Independent School District. It serves the west-central section of the city, roughly south and west of the Franklin Mountains and north of Inters ...

, where she graduated in 1953. She later attended the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

(UTEP) on a dance scholarship, graduating in 1957. Guerrero was the first in her family to earn both bachelor's and master's degrees. She majored in elementary and high school education for her bachelor's degree and

bilingual education In bilingual education, students are taught in two (or more) languages. It is distinct from learning a second language as a subject because both languages are used for instruction in different content areas like math, science, and history. The ...

for her master's. Guerrero received her first job from the

El Paso Independent School District The El Paso Independent School District (or EPISD) is the largest school district serving El Paso, Texas (USA). Originally organized in 1883, it is currently the largest district in the Texas Education Agency's Educational Service Center (ESC) ...

(EPISD) with the help of educator, Hibbard Polk, in the early 1950s. She ended up teaching in El Paso schools for around 20 years, doing most of her teaching at Austin High School. Guerrero created the International Folklorico Dance Group, the first ballet folklorico group in El Paso, in 1970. In 1974, she created a film called ''Tapestry'' which describes the way she uses folk dances from around the world to celebrate diversity. The film won a Cine Golden Eagle Award in 1974 and was shown at the

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, i ...

. The International Folklorico Dance Group has appeared on '' Good Morning America'' and performed at the Kennedy Arts Center. She has lectured on the history of dance and performed around the country. Between 1989 and 1994, she was also a part-time lecturer for UTEP. Her talks and dance performances are multicultural in nature so that she can reflect the cultural heritage of many different groups of people. She referred to her dance and history program as "Multicultural Tapestry." Her interpretation of the United States is that it is not a " melting pot," but rather a "multicultural tapestry, a

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

." She became the first living educator and the first

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

woman in El Paso to have a school named after her in 1993. In 1994 she was inducted into the

. Guerrero has also been inducted into the El Paso Women's Hall of Fame. Guerrero has also earned the

Ohtli Award The Ohtli Award or Reconocimiento Ohtli is an honor the Mexican Government gives to Mexican citizens who work in the United States and other countries and who have given assistance to Mexican citizens or promoted their culture. About The Ohtli ...

from Mexico. Guerrero retired in 2015.

Biography

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