- Tomorrow, which is Saturday.

The State Fair will host its first ever Pan Latino Day.

It'll be a day to feature cultural acts, representing the state's diverse and fast growing communities.

Reporter Kaomi Lee met up with one of the scheduled performers.

- [Kaomi] Mary Anne Ligeralde-Quiroz sets the intention for the day.

(cultural music) Tradition and ancestral cultural ways take center stage.

The dancers are part of a Mexica Aztec Dance Group.

They practice the dances of an indigenous people of Mexico before Spanish colonization.

Each week dozens gather at a cultural center on St. Paul's East Side.

- We have a lot of first time people here.

Raise your hands if this is your first class.

The name of our Mexica Aztec Dance Group is Kalpulli Yaocenoxtli, which means Warriors of the First Cactus Flower.

- [Kaomi] Quiroz is Filipina-American.

She and her husband Sergio, who immigrated from Mexico, co-founded the group.

- Sergio has been dancing and learning Mexica Aztec Dancing since we were in high school, so around 95.

- He was away in Mexico on the day we visited.

Quiroz explains they met in middle school in East St. Paul after both immigrated from the Philippines and Mexico respectively.

- It's not a contemporary group or anything like that.

It's a traditional group where we learn the dances, a significant of the dances, the songs, the philosophies, and apply them to, you know, everyday life.

- [Kaomi] Drummer Kwat Leeday sets the beat.

Every movement has meaning from respecting ancestors, each other and to living in harmony with Mother Earth.

- What I love about Mexica Aztec Dance is that you can connect with it through physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

Like you can choose any of those routes.

Physical, I mean you'll see the dances.

They're very high impact, they're very intense.

And so you're able to just sweat that out.

You know, some people love hitting the gym, you know, some folks come here and dance and just sweat it out and just release what they been carrying all day, whether it's from work or school or whatever.

- [Kaomi] There are a handful of Mexica Aztec Dance Groups in the Twin Cities.

This year Kalpulli Yaocenoxtli will perform at the State Fair.

They'll be part of a Latinx Cultural Showcase put on by La Raza Radio.

Quiroz says she's glad to see Latinx culture seen by more Minnesotans.

- I think it's important to be in spaces and to be represented in all kinds of different spaces.

We've actually, our group has danced at the State Fair many times for the parade and I will say that we've had both positive and negative experiences at the State Fair.

- [Kaomi] Some negatives were dancers being spit on or told to go back to their country.

She knows the fair is a mainstream space.

Many will experience Mexica Aztec dance for the first time and that's why it's important they're there.

(cultural music) Last week, Kalpulli Yaocenoxtli brought their energetic moves to St. Paul's East Side Sculpture Park.

(cultural music) Dancer Samuel Torres says, "Being in the group helps him stay grounded and empowered."

- Being able to continue to grow those roots that in many ways we're disrupted by Colonial Empire.

My great-grandmother, who was in my life till I was 10 years old, spoke to me in Nahuatl a traditional indigenous language.

And to be able to pass that down to my children here is, it's a blessing that I didn't have when I grew up.

(cultural music) - And a reminder that the group will be performing at the first ever Pan Latino Day at the Minnesota State Fair tomorrow, which is Saturday at Dan Patch Park.

In a response to the story, the State Fair says "It does not condone the negative behavior that the group says it experienced."

A spokeswoman for the fair says they take the safety and comfort of all of their performers and exhibitors very seriously.