Musica y Danza
The Danza de los Viejitos (dance of the old men) is a dance in Michoacan. It is a humorous dance where the dancers wear masks of old people along with their typical campesino clothing. The dance starts out with aching and hunched over old men, with minimal movements. These movements turn into vigorous dancing combined with trembling and coughing and falling over by the "old men". The dance has lost its original meaning, and has now come to represent the richness of life expressed in a dance, as a gift to Baby Jesus, since they could not afford to give him anything else. The dance is done several times a year, during religious holidays.
La Danza de los Viejitos (Michoacan, Mx.)
The Custome
Huapango
(pronounced " Whapango")
"Next to the Jarabe, the Huapango is the most widespread and popular of the well-known Mexican dances. It is danced in all three of the Huastecas and all through the Veracruz territory. The Huapango is the dance of the platform" (Schwender and Tibbels). This dance is executed on top of wooden platforms around rural and urban territories. The Huapango is the dance of the platform, and in rural communities, these platforms in which the dances were executed in the post colonial times, were rustic and picturesque, having roofs covered with hay or even tin supported by post or tree trunks (1) The Huapango used to take place every eight days in the more important towns and villages. For the working classes of both urban and rural communities, these dances constituted the main source of fun, where men went to the Huapango to select their future brides(2) Merchants organized Huapangos with the purpose of bringing people together to buy their merchandise. The shooting of firecrackers and fireworks was a noisy and effective announcement that the Huapango is to take place. According to Tibbels, upon hearing such announcement, the tillers of the soil know that as soon as their work is finished, they will go to the Huapango, carrying with them the odor of the fields, wearing their working clothes with cutlasses still in their belts and green springs in their hats. The girls, with their hair in braids interwoven with wild flowers, down their backs, are always accompanied by their mothers. The steps of the Huapango like those of the Jarabe differ in diferent parts of Mexico. Variations are also found in the accompaniment of the Huapango which may be the airs of the love, popular songs from the Veracruz oil regions such as "The White Lily", "El Caiman", and "Cielito Lindo" played on violin and bango(2), while a more simple accompaniment is found in the throbbing of the Jarana(3).
En el VI encuentro de huapango en Colatlán Ixhuatlán de Madero Veracruz. Excelente fiesta huasteca. El trío Tlayoltiyane es originario de Ixhuatlán de Madero y actualmente radican en la bella ciudad de Xalapa, Veracruz. El nombre del trío esta en nahuatl y significa Los creadores. En el violín esta Alberto Meza, en la jarana el maestro Antonio Meza y en la guitarra quinta huapanguera Antonio Meza. Simplemente de lo mejor, eso es indudable.
Category: Music
Sones y Danzas Michoacanos
Classical Ballet Folklorico restaged by Patricia Astorga and danced by Patricia Astorga, Laurie Nash, Stefania Gorski, Adriana Figueroa-Jones, Vanessa Velasquez, Lucas Rountree, Julietta Sandoval, Yvette Maldonado.
Sonajas were originally created by Amalia Hernandez. Inspired by the joyous and excited movements of children playing, Amalia combined this idea with ballet to create her first Ballet Folklorico de Mexico choreography. These traditional dances are performed as a part of the celebration to the Virgen de Acahuato that takes place every 2nd of February during the Feria de Apatzingan.
It is difficult to say with certainty where this Mexican old dance originated, but despite the doubt, the jarabe was adopted by the State of Jalisco, Mexico during the 1700’s. For centuries, the Jarabe has been associated with Jalisco, and this is the reason why this dance was called “Jarabe Tapatio”. According to Norma Schwenderner, PhD. And Averil Tibbels, MA. In their book “Dances of Old Mexico” (A.S. Barnes and Company; New York, 1934), this dance was an expression of the joy with which the Mexicans first saw the horses which were brought into their country by the Spanish Conquerors. According to the same authors, to proof this statement, we could mention the steps of the Jarabe Tapatio which seem to imitate the clicking of hoofs and the pawing and prancing of these animals. It is also believe that this dance was first performed by an Indian princess, a descendant of the Queen of Tonala during the early eighteen century. Apparently this royal custom was adopted by the general public as a popular dance performed at public and private gatherings. “In 1802, however, the Jarabe lost favor with the Mexican government officials and Don Felix Berenger issued a decree declaring that anyone daring to dance such a dance should be publicly shamed and sentence to two years in prison, while those watching it, should be given no less than two months in jail”(Schwender ,Tibbels). This law lasted approximately sixty years; after this period, this law was removed and the dance gradually became part of the Mexican popular dance tradition. This popularity reached its peak in 1918 when a dance company performing in Mexico City, included the Jarabe in its program. Since the early 1920’s, the Jarabe Tapatio has been included in most of the public schools as part of their academic curriculum. The steps could be modified to be customized for young and adult performers as well. In modern times, the Jarabe Tapatio has become the official dance for national festivities such as Independence Day in Mexico, and Cinco de Mayo in the U.S. The attire used for this dance is motivates the dancer into a different mental mood turning the most quite girl into a women or real charm and beauty, metaphorically speaking. The way the Jarabe has been executed on the dance floor or played with instruments, has been the subject of many interpretations throughout the years. The changes in the way it is danced also reflects the adjustments done to it to match the different dancer’s skills; this fact has made difficult for the original steps to truly be recognized. “ Two utterly distinct versions of the Jarabe exist: the one Mexican and the other native ( Indian) The Spanish version shows distinct Spanish influence, the lively music and spirited steps seem to agree with the Idea of Spanish tradition( Schwender and Tibbels)”. The Mexican Jarabe, as many other Latin dances such as the Danzon (popular during the post-World War II) has been a dance of courtship. During this dance, men insinuate and provoke his dance partner into a sensual relationship. If the man is persistent enough and win her over, both of them will reflect this happiness in the increase of the dance steps and the tempo of their moves.
According to Schwender and Tibbels, the native or Indian version is quite different. In this version, the steps are simpler and the dance seems to have a more ritualistic than courtship purpose.
Danza Veracruzana .
1 "Dances of Mexico", Schwendener and Tibbess. A.S. Barness and Company. New York, 1934.
2 Summary from "The Huapango,"
Mexican Folkways, Vol. VII,pp.168-98,1932.
3. A small stringed instrument similar to the ukelele