Historical mystery taints certain places and events in life. In any ancient country, there are mystical places that transport us back before our ancestors were alive. Of course, time’s fingerprint is evident in the fallen temples and ruins — but time can never rid the effects of such places. You can visit Chichen Itza on the Yucatan Peninsula or Palenque in Chiapas or Teotihuacan in Mexico City. But in Monterrey, one of the youngest cities in Mexico, you must find these portals in wall-less forms.
Mexican folkloric dancers
A fellow co-worker invited me to see a Mexican Folklore Dance program. As I sat and watched 20 different dance groups from all over Mexico show off their colorful skirts and tap-dance-like steps, I felt time take me from the present to the past. The dances are a mixture of the ancient Mayan and Aztec rituals of rhythmic movement done to please the gods. The dances developed after one of the most influential factors in the indigenous culture: the Spanish colonization. The Spanish brought with them (among other things) the dances they knew: the waltz, ballet and polka. Mix those with ancient dances and you get a fascinating display of men and women — and sometimes girls and boys — who reinvent their ancestral past. The women wear long, braided hair (fake if need be), skirts big enough to hide a dining room table and colorful ribbons in their hair and woven through their blouses. The men wear well-designed button-down shirts, sombreros and decorated pants. Both wear shoes that tap tap tap or pound pound pound to the beat of music you won’t hear riding through the neighborhood.
I have now gone twice to see folklore dancing, maybe seeing a total of 25 different dances. Like snowflakes, each proves different from its predecessor. The world around me seems to be put on pause as I watch these dedicated and talented men and women show off. One could argue this cultural art form can be an escape from reality. But I would argue they are much more than that. For unlike a Blockbuster hit, this art demands something from both the performer and the audience. It demands us to look back at history, to reach back and connect with those who lived on the land we now occupy.
Gena Thomas is a women’s coop laborer and faith-based coffee shop co-manager with her husband. For more on her experiences, check out her blog.
Latest posts by genalou
- Pennyless - August 6th, 2010
- Soggy Freedoms - July 9th, 2010
- Drug Trafficking and Fear - June 25th, 2010
- Double Pull - June 11th, 2010
- On My Toes - May 28th, 2010
