The most important festivities in all Mexico start at the night before December 12. All small towns, communities, and neighborhoods in the cities organize a annual celebration to The Virgin of Guadalupe. This image is the longest living legend in Mexico and is a venerated and religious symbol. Her shrine is to the devout Mexican Indians what Varanasi is to the Hindus and Mecca is to the Muslims.

On the night before her birthday, the celebration begins with nonstop fireworks, and in the early morning, the people of Gualupita, a small town in Centro Mexico known for host one of the biggest celebrations of the region, gather around the central church in two large groups to perform dances in honor of the Virgin Guadalupe. The Dances will go from 9:00 am to around 11:00 pm at night every day during the next two days. To the people of modern western culture, these types of large and long celebrations can be interpreted as a means of expression for fanatic religious people. Nonetheless, the origins of the Mexican dances, despite the actual meaning and geographical location of the dance, have an important social connotation within the community that preserves this ancient tradition. The dance is more important because it brings together families and entire communities. Mexico has a wealth of folk music and dances that are a part of their ancient heritage. However, among the pre-Hispanic communities, they were chiefly forms of prayer, while now they are also for pleasure; therefore many secular, as well as religious, dances exist.

For the pre-Hispanic civilizations, the music and dance performance were important during festivals, ceremonies, and many types of religious events. There were dances to honor the gods and dances asking for good luck, such as rain for agriculture or good fishing for subsistence. Like any other ancient culture, dances were also a good way to pass on knowledge from one generation to the next, or to tell stories from history. During the conquest, the Spanish missionaries, who arrived in Mexico in 1519, realized that because of the importance of music and dance in pre-Hispanic cultures music and dances could be used as a means for teaching the Spanish language and traditions to the natives. They added new ingredients to the culture. Along with the language, new songs, new dances, and new musical instruments contributed to the diversity of syncretism between cultures. Some Mexican dances have religious undertones, while others became a unique part of the identity in each region of Mexico. Many types of colonial dances emerged and blended with the preexisting local ritual dances. The new dances are called folk dances, in an effort to distinguish them from the native ones. These routines are stylized versions of ancient indigenous dances. The costumes, movements, and music all represent a particular region in Mexico. These folk dances are divided into Jarabes and Sones for a better understanding of their origin.
Today, many Mexican native dances are still performed with some aspects of the preexisting culture being preserved by the traditional clothing and instruments. In addition, many of these native dances preserved their meaning and choreography. For example, the dance "IN CUICATL IN XOCHITL" (The song and the flower) was an offering to be in contact with the natural manifestations (deities) and was considered a way of concentration in motion. Through their discipline, those who participate focus diligently on their goals. The ritual dance was called Macehualiztli (deserving) and the popular dance was called Netotiliztli. The scudding and the whirling movements represent the fertility, and the steps that go all the way to the floor represent the earth and the crops. The spinning on the air represent the soul, and the steps forwards and backwards represent the ebb and flow of fire and water. The Aztecs believe that to win favors from the gods it was necessary to make sacrifices by singing and to dancing to them. The most important Aztec celebrations were the spring and winter solstices that eventually every four years will converge with the celebration of the New Fire. This celebration gathered all tribes and communities of the entire region to pray and dance all night for a new era. The Aztec mythology believed that the world ended every four years. These believe created a common goal that unify all different tribes. The next morning after the night of the New Fire, the Aztecs were filled with happiness and joy for the existence of a new era, while the weeklong celebration continued.

Many of the folk colonial dances lost their meaning with the modernization of the Mexican economy. The dance of Los Negritos or the Negro Dances exist in several of the states along the coast, where the Spaniards brought Negro slaves. Two lines of men are dressed mostly in women’s (maringuillas) and wear a rose-colored masks adorned with ribbons or black masks colored with red, white and yellow colors. They represent field workers, and the one in front represents the foreman. Some of the choreographies include a snake that is held by the maringuillas, which symbolizes the killing of the woman's evil instinct. In other regions, the same snake symbolizes the danger to workers in the jungle forests of the surrounding country.

The Arrieros dance comes form the same colonial times as the Los Negritos. These were the times of the big haciendas, which were the center of the wealth In Mexico. The arrieros, mule-drivers, were the people that carried and commercialized the goods made from the haciendas; they were merchants that worked for haciendas and traveled to towns for other haciendas. The men appear in white suits, wearing red bandanas around the neck and their hats adorned with flowers and ribbons. A group of men in one corner make cook and do all the tasks usually performed by women. As they work, they tell funny stories of what happened on their trips. The dancers also talk about their gifts as they dance, which they give to the people watching the dance between breaks and during the performance.

Today these performances take place on the days that celebrate the Virgin Guadalupe. There are no more black people working the fields or mule-drivers carrying goods from town to town. The choreographies are taught by members of the community throughout the year. These people host their students in their houses and feed them with tamales and atole (beverage made from corn) during the rehearsals. This food is provided by a committee in charge of the food for rehearsals, normally woman members of the same community. The people commit to participate in the dances of the December 12 for various reasons; some are catholic believers, and they dance in a way of appreciation for a miracle or grace conceived for them by a previous special favor promised to the virgin. The young ones participate because the influence of grandparents or parents while others participate because they are followers of the original Aztec deity called Tonanzin (goodness mother of the earth and corn). Some participate primarily for the love to the celebration. Throughout the year, the arrangements for the Guadalupe festivities goes from food to fireworks, preparations for rehearsals, the spending of savings to have gifts ready (basic goods like pottery, brooms, blankets, etc.) to give away during the dances. The celebration is the highest expression of the community life. It is also their highest artistic expression, because they bring to it the best, they are able to create, dances music, drama costumes, fireworks, and all the ritual arts. The entire organization of the dance and the celebration is an opportunity to bring the community together.

The actual meanings of the dances are not remembered, and people can't care less about their origin. The large celebrations that take place, usually in the church and its surroundings, are an excuse to create community among the population. Like the town of Gualupita, where those dances carefully planned, the rehearsal and performance honor the Virgin. Most of the dances have no religious connotation at all; the purpose of Mexican dances, like the celebrations, is to create and promote social strength within the community.

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