Antonio Mendoza has been named director for the Porterville Unified School District Ballet Folklorico program. The 2001 Monache High graduate returns to Porterville with over 25 years of experience. Mendoza returns after co-founding the Xochipilli Dance Ensemble in Greenwich, Connecticut in 2014. He also served as the artistic director and was a dancer/assistant for two years with Tere Luna.
He was a dancer/assistant director for four years for Ballet Folklorico Mexicano de Nueva York in New York City after a four-year stint in Los Angeles with Ballet Folklorico de USC and Ballet Folklorico Mixteco.