Now on @NPR, Juanita Escobar (@juanitafotografa) tells the story of a dance troupe’s perseverance amid the pandemic in the Llanos, produced with support from @henrylucefoundation as a part of a Magnum Foundation initiative to show the impact of the global health crisis through a variety of perspectives. With text by Estefania Mitre (@estefaniammitre), Juanita’s photos follow Marcela Hernández, a director, teacher and dancer at Alma Llanera, a dance academy in Orocué, Colombia, and her daughter, Mariangel Tumay. Escobar began documenting the story of the dance troupe in 2020 — the adversities they faced during the last two years and how the performance brought them together as one big family. See the full story at the link in bio. 1. Marcela Hernández, director of the Alma Llanera Academy, in 2022. "I admire my mom because, since she was a little girl, she has been alone and went to dance classes, she studied, graduated, studied journalism and now she has gone to several countries, many people know her and admire her very much," her daughter, Mariangel Tumay, said about about her. 2. Mariangel Tumay, 13, has been dancing since the age of two. "She is a girl who is used to earning things," Marcela said of her daughter. "I always tell her to never expect anything from anyone; earn things through her effort, by her intelligence, by your abilities." 3. Mariangel prepares to dance. "My mom has always told me since I was a little girl that you have to be responsible, that you can't say 'I want to do this' and then stop. That you can't say 'I want to do this' and then quit. No! If I want to do that, I have to finish it and do it well." 4. Left: Camilo Joropa, 17 years old, from the Sáliva Indigenous group, 2022. Right: Karen Rosales, 17, joined the academy at age 12, photo taken in 2020. Center: Karen Rosales and Camilo Joropa rehearse two or three times a week, mostly in the evenings at the academy, 2022. (Captions continue in the comments)