About Us

Colibrí Mexican Folkdance UK was founded  in Manchester in 2016 and has performed continuously ever since. Colibrí are now an established dance Company of native Mexicans showcasing traditional Mexican dance throughout the north-west of England and beyond. We are very proud to promote the traditional dances of our beautiful country. The group has been expanded to include a Children’s Colibrí, Spanish language and Mexican Art and Crafts workshops, not only promoting our culture and language, but preserving it as well.

Colibrí’s vibrant performances have been enjoyed by thousands of people at events including Manchester Days 2017-22, Wahaca Day of the Dead, Manchester International Day, Mexican Independence Day, Liverpool Central Library, Glasgow Skypark, Edge Hill University Arts Centre, Durham University Symposium, Birmingham University, Instituto Cervantes, Manchester Central Library, Luma Feria Festival and many more. The group has also performed on several occasions for the Mexican consulate and ambassador to the UK and regularly collaborates with Walk The Plank Arts Group, Luma Creations, Instituto Cervantes and Lingua Franca World Music Agency. The group successfully delivered their third annual Mexican Dance Showcase at the prestigious Bury Met Arts venue, following previous sell-out shows at Chorlton and the Waterside Arts Centre. The Bury performance debuted the pre-Hispanic Venado and Pascola dances from the Sonora region of Mexico - this is the first time these dances have ever been performed in UK and we secured special permission to perform them from the indigenous people.

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Magaly Flores, Colibri's Artistic Director, was born in Coyuca de Catalan, Guerrero, Mexico. She is a qualified Art teacher in Mexico, specialising in Dance Education. After finishing her degree, she joined the Dance Research Centre (Centro de Investigacion de la Danza), which investigated and helped resurrect and protect the culture of many regional folk dances across Mexico. She taught dance courses at different schools and universities, and collaborated with several leading Mexican dance directors and producers. She says of this period : "What fascinated me at the time about folk dance was talking with the dancers in the villages, understanding what a piece of folk dance means to the community, and getting involved in the town’s fiesta's."
Upon moving to the UK, Magaly performed many traditional folk dances on behalf of the Mexican Embassy at numerous special cultural events across the South East. She also acted as a practical consultant to Rosamund Shreeves in her research updating her bestselling publication “Children Dancing”, which Amazon.co.uk describes as being “widely acclaimed as a source book of ideas for schools, community groups and all those working creatively with children”.
She is also using her experience as a professionally trained dancer to deliver dance classes and workshops in Primary schools and  various other educational and cultural organisations. Magaly also works as a creative consultant with organisations across the UK including the Balbir Singh Dance Company and CIOFF. As an active member of IIDDMAC, Magaly attends annual symposiums across Mexico researching and preserving traditional dance.
Magaly's aim as artistic director is to help ensure that these dances are performed and shared with the next generation.