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Origins of
Mexican Dances
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Research lecture presented in University of Alaska Anchorage In the pre-Hispanic times to the sing and dance were call "IN CUICATL IN XOCHITL" (The sing and the flower), because that was an offering to be in contact with the natural manifestations (deities) the dance was considered a way of concentration in motion. Through this discipline they ask focusing very hard on their goals. The ritual dance was called Macehualiztli (deserving) and the popular dace was called Netotiliztli. The scudding and the whirling movements represent the fertility; the steps that go al the way to the floor represent the earth and the crops. The spinning on the air represent the soul, the steps back and forward the fire and zigzag steps the water.
After
the Mexican empire fall in 1521, The Franciscan missionaries prohibited
the use of percussion instruments (huéhuetl y teponaztle)
because the were consider pagan, And anyone who dare to play one
of these instruments their hands would be cut as a punishment,
of San Miguel en Tlaxcala to the nobles survivors from the conquest, were they agree in how keep in the dances the ancestral knowledge at the same time spread military hierarchies and the organization of congregations of the dance. Between 1930-1940, The chiefs of the dance Manuel Pinda Escalona, Gabriel Osorio in Mexico city and Nativida Reyna in Querétaroand Guanajuato, retake the use of percussion instruments (huéhuetl y teponaztle) and get rid of the indumenta to retake the Aztec indumenta. They receive death treats form conservative concheros groups. And in occasion they end in jail. Thanks to them many of the old knowledge that Aztec dances use today were saved. Help to reborn the Aztec dance of religious tradition or Chichimeca Aztec dance with the original drums and the conchas (mandolins) that help to complete the sings and praises.
These series of pictures were taken during the celebration of the new fire (Fuego Nuevo). Many head dancers of different dance groups like Malinalli, g Metepec and Monarch group gather together in Malinalco Mexico state for the celebration.
Origins of the Mexican Dances When you talk about mexican dances always you talk about the Virgen de Guadalupe. In 1523, just two years after the Aztec capital of Tenochitlan fell to Hernán Cortés and his Conquistadors, the first Roman Catholic missionaries arrived to begin the religious conquest of Mexico.
on December 12, while rushing to find a priest to attend a seriously
ill uncle, he took a short cut across the hill. The Virgin once
again appeared and Juan Diego told her of the Bishop's request.
The Virgin instructed him to pick roses from the usually sere
and desolate hill and deliver them to Zumarraga as the sign. Tonantzin the true face of Guadalupe
Frequent Asked Questions Q: Can you tell us what inspire you to be an insturctor? I began to dance when I saw that in actuality the old knowledge of my ancestors exist in tradicional groups of dancers, now I am a dancer and I teach to my group and we dance in prehispanic rituals, cultural events and catolic events Q: You think other types of races or cultures could join? yes, because of the dances is universal, in case of the Aztec Dance, it let you integrate in the nature, it connect you between the earth and the sky, between terrenal things and spiritual things Q:How did the dances came up with the moves and their names? The moves are simbols of nature elements, some moves means histories of mitology nahuatl, some moves represent the traslation of stars or planets, anothers are the simbol of agriculture and others represent warrior dances to maintenence the equilibrium of forces of nature Eduardo Gómez Montaño Ana Prescod, Jamaica: González, México, 1999 Económica, México, 1996 María Sten, Edit. Joaquín Mortiz, México, 1990 Web Sites:
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around 1525 the missionaries introduced
string instruments so they can perform their dances. To the indigenes
the dances were sacred so they couldn’t play their music
with just any instrument. Then in 1531 they create guitars from
the armadillo shield because this was a sacred animal. this new
instrument was named Conch -Concha (Mecalhuehetl, Zin-zin or Ayoyote)
and also they ad the use of Spanish mandolins all under supervision
of the missionaries. That is the reason because dancers were called
Concheros.
December
9, 1531, Juan Diego crossed the barren hill called Tepeyac to
attend Mass. He was brought to a sudden halt by a blinding light
and the sound of unearthly music. Before him appeared an astounding
vision--a beautiful dark-skinned woman who, calling the Indian
"my son," declared herself to be the Virgin Mary, the
mother of Jesus Christ. She told Juan Diego it was her desire
to have a church built on Tepeyac hill, and asked him to relay
that message to Bishop Juan de Zumarraga. 
She is known as "Lady of the Serpent Skirt" The Aztec earth
goddess had previously been worshiped in the location where Our
Lady of Guadalupe appeared, and was an ancient great mother predecessor
to the more contemporary dark madonna of the Americas. Tonantzin
is the Nahuatl word for mother, and in Mexico today some people
of Aztec heritage refer to Our Lady of Guadalupe as Tonantzin.
This Aztec earth goddess was also known as Coatlicue. She was
a mother goddess who gave birth to the Aztec gods, the moon and
the stars and who also nursed the people as her children
Dance Groups
- Monarch
- Otom Tekutli
- Kentucky
- New York
- Origins of Dances
- Mexican Dances
- Gualupita essay
- Read this page in Spanish
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