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Performances of Mexican folkloric dance, presented for visitors to the capital, offer a vivid and colourful introduction to the regional traditions of the country through staged spectacles of music, dance and costume. The most renowned of these is the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico, the company founded in 1952 by the dancer and choreographer Amalia Hernandez, which has come to be regarded as the foremost folk-dance ensemble in the nation and performs regularly at the magnificent Palacio de Bellas Artes in the historic centre. Hernandez spent years researching the dances and music of Mexico's regions and indigenous peoples, then reworked what she found into theatrical pieces that kept the spirit of the originals while shaping them for the stage, an approach that won audiences around the world even as some purists debated it. The repertoire ranges widely, taking in the courtship dances and mariachi of Jalisco, the deer dance of the Yaqui people, the Afro-Caribbean rhythms of Veracruz, the dances of the Maya south and scenes from the Revolution, each performed with live music, intricate footwork and dazzling regional dress. Because the spectacle relies on movement, music and colour rather than language, it is easily enjoyed by visitors from abroad. The setting adds greatly to the experience, for the principal performances take place in the Palacio de Bellas Artes, the grand marble cultural palace in the heart of the historic centre, whose interior of Art Deco and Art Nouveau design, monumental murals by the great Mexican painters and celebrated stained-glass stage curtain make a spectacular backdrop in their own right. The company that performs there has toured the world for more than six decades, earning numerous honours and serving as a cultural ambassador for the nation, and a seat at one of its shows is among the most popular cultural outings for visitors to the capital. The performances are staged as a sequence of distinct numbers, each representing a region or tradition, so that in the course of an evening the audience travels across the whole country, from the deserts of the north to the tropical south, carried by changes of music, rhythm and costume. The colour of the dress is itself a spectacle, the women's wide skirts and the men's charro suits embodying the styles of different states. Tickets are sold both directly and through tour operators, who often package the show with transport and a meal, and because the performances are in such demand it is wise to book ahead. For a vivid, joyful and accessible introduction to the diversity of Mexican folk tradition, few experiences in the city can match it.