Berkeley High School’s annual Latinx Heritage Month assembly featured performances celebrating Latinx culture through dance, spoken word poetry, and more, taking place during third period on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. Individual BHS students as well as organized classes and student groups were featured, such as the African Diaspora Dance class led by Dawn Williams, a BHS dance teacher, and a student group led by Adriana Betti, a BHS faculty member.
“Music and dance have always been a part of Hispanic culture. They tell our stories when words aren’t enough,” Valeria Cristobal, a BHS senior and the president of Latinos Unidos, said during her opening speech.
The event was organized through a partnership of Latinos Unidos, a student-run cultural club at BHS, and Puente, a college preparatory pathway that supports Latinx students at BHS.
BHS senior Nicolle Gutierrez opened the assembly by performing a Peruvian dance symbolizing courtship and love through elegant choreography, colorful flowing clothing, and handkerchiefs representing communication between a man and a woman.
The dance group following Gutierrez performed by Williams’ students. The traditional Mexican dance used vibrant skirts and told the tale of fishermen and their connection to the sea.
“I really enjoyed seeing the crowd of students watching, being exposed to, and being proud of their own culture,” said Jasmine Amezcua, a BHS math teacher whose class attended the assembly.
Amezcua said she attended the assembly partly because of her own Hispanic heritage, but also because she saw it as an opportunity for her students to connect with their cultures or learn about cultures outside of their own. One performance that stood out to Amezcua showcased BHS student performers paying homage to Aztecs through the use of dance, combined with musical elements of drums, bells, and horns made of seashells. The Aztec dance, led by Betti, is a traditional indigenous dance used as a way of prayer.
Ahtziri Martinez, a BHS senior, said seeing different cultures at schools helps students feel connected to their backgrounds. “I loved the whole assembly. It lets people feel like they belong and just always feel like they have a piece of their own culture at (BHS),” Martinez said.
Angel Arroyo Bernal, a BHS junior, performed in the assembly his sophomore year as a drummer for Cuauhtli Mitotiani Mexica, an Aztec dance group. “(The Latinx Heritage Month Assembly) makes everyone who’s maybe nervous or scared about showing their character, heritage, or culture want to be a part of it and break out of that shell,” Arroyo Bernal said.
Through performances and shared admiration, the event highlighted the importance of cultural pride and representation in school spaces, and how representation can help students feel recognized, connected, and uplifted.