¡La Guelaguetza!

We planned our arrival in Oaxaca so as to be able to attend some of the festivities of La Guelaguetza. These occur throughout the month of Julio (July) and most especially on the last two Mondays of the month- "Los Lunes del Cerro" is the other name for La Guelaguetza. It is an ancient tradition during which the various indigeneous groups (of which there are very many and many who are not particularly related to each other, for example their are 16 languages spoken by the various indigeneous groups and even each of those has many dialects; so a Zapotec from the Valles Centrales does not necessarily speak the same language as a Zapotec person from the Istmo de Tehuantapec and their cultures have similarly diverged quite a bit) come together to share their cultures via the mediums of dance, food, drink, art, crafts, etc. In the time of colonization, the Spanish added their Catholic aspect (via the Virgen del Carmen whose month is July) and so the tradition continued. In modern times, there are many fairs and festivals both within the city of Oaxaca de Juárez as well as in the pueblos throughout the state. The grand performances of dance occur only on the Mondays and so we got tickets for shows on each of the Mondays. At first we did not think we were allowed to take fotos or videos with the proper camera but soon realized that if this is indeed a rule, it is neither followed nor enforced. As so I had my camera with me on the second Monday-- that's the performance that is pictured in this post. The two performances featured different delegations (groups representing their area/indigeneous or mestizo group; there are 8 regions of the state of Oaxaca represented) with some dances that overlapped (there apparently must always be Danza de la Pluma and Flor de Piña, for example, lest the populace riot) but also some that are not in both Mondays. So this lunes we got to see the Danza de los Rubios, and a particularly rousing performance of Torito Serrano as well as others. Without a doubt attending La Guelaguetza was one of the greatest experiences of my lifetime. Not pictured below but still experienced were the spokespeople of each delegation often speaking in their indigeneous language, the part immediately following each delegation's performance during which the performers threw gifts out into the crowd, and when everyone in the crowd would take off their hats (gifted to each attendee) and wave them in synchrony, either along to the hymn of Oaxaca or in appreciation of a song/dance, as well as the final grand fireworks spectacle. What a transformative experience for us to be a part of, it is a three and a half hour long extravagant festival of dance and culture shared freely and as they say-- with arms wide open to embrace all. We are so grateful to have been here, to have seen this, and to begin to appreciate all the diversity and distinctions of Oaxaca.

The first thing you notice upon entering the Auditorio Guelaguetza, aside from the view of the city and surrounding mountains!, is that the delegations of dancers sit in the audience. The second Monday we got to sit in a section immediately adjacent to the dancers so we could take some more fotos of and with the dancers (and later, one of the delegations offered us some of their homemade tepache - fermented pineapple drink). Here is Thalia with two of the dancers from the Asunción Ixtaltepec delegation. The dancer on the right is one of the mayordomos of their delegation, hence the addition of extra gold to signify her exalted position. Thalia is wearing a top embroidered in the Istmus de Tehuantepec.

The delegation from Putla Villa de Guerrero was very interesting because Putla de Guerrero is very diverse in terms of the ethnicities of people who live there: Amuzgos, Tacuates, Triques, Mixtecos. And so the dances and the trajes traditionales (traditional clothing/outfits) worn were also very diverse. Here you can see several masked dancers from the Triqui group (with the long, red huipiles),

 

Honestly, I have no idea what tradition the dancers on the right below come from within Putla de Guerrero but they were fascinating! The dancers on the left are performing sones chilenas (some histories count that people from Chile migrated north and settled in this region of Oaxaca, those the style of dance and dress is similar to that of Chile).

  

Dancers of the delegation from Huautla de Jiménez - a Mazatec community - with their interpetation of sones Mazatecos- La Tortolita, Flor de Naranjo, and my favorite: Flor de Liz, which has lots of singing as well.

The delegation from Santa María Tlahuitoltepec, a Mixe community in the Sierrea Mixe, started out with a lovely ceremony of blessings for the home, the fields, and to their mystic, el Rey Condoy.

They then danced the Jarabe Mixe, which is the charateristic hymn from this region of the Sierra. This involves lots of turning and skipping past each other and the skirts would swirl out without the women ever moving their hands. I personally love the music of the Sierra Mixe, all perfectly performed and synchronized.

Possibly our favorite of the Guelaguetza was this interpretation of Torito Serrano from San Pablo Macuiltianguis, a Zapotec community in the Sierra Norte. The women represent the bulls (toritos) and the men the toreadoras (bullfighters). But the women are absolutely FIERCE and unrelenting in their "attacks" and usually push the men to the ground at the very least, if not off the stage entirely! I kid you not, there are special people waiting at the edge of the stage, many wearing specialized helmets, to help the men as they fall off the stage! It was a tremendous dance and I have to say I've never seen anything quite like it ever before. This delegation was sitting next to us and when they came back, many of us in our section gave them extra applause because they were so wonderful.

 

 Here is a video from my iphone, so you can get a little taste!

Another dance that was only done during this second Lunes was the Danza de los Rubios, from the Mixteca region's community of Santiago Juxtlahuaca This featured masked dancers like those pictured below who had whips and spurs (the spurs contributed to the music). This dance was quite fascinating and very different from any other.

Dancers from San Francisco Ixhuatán, from the istmo with their characteristic utterly beautiful dresses and gold adornments which signify pride of family. This is a matriarchal Zapotec community, where the women are very strong and are the heads of the family, heads of businesses, and leaders of the town.

Ejutla de Crespo, a town in the Valles Centrales region of Oaxaca (which is also where we are in Oaxaca de Juárez), sent a delegation of these dancers, with skirts of many different colors and during which the mating dance of doves is interpreted.

Santos Reyes Nopala's (which is a Chatino community in the Costa region) delegation interpreted a traditional Chatino wedding as well as sones and chilenas.

The Danza de la Pluma is one of the more famous of the dances performed at the Guelaguetza, here by the delegation from Villa de Zaachila. The dancers each commit themselves to the dance for at least a year, in service to their community. The Danza of la Pluma is one of many dances in Mexico that re-tell the conquest of Mexico. Almost the entire dance is jumps of various difficulties. It is a great crowd favorite.

 Here is the dancer mid-air!

 

 

Who can resist fotos of the 2nd delegation of Tehuanas from Asuncion Ixtaltepec?! Not me!!! Keep in mind that the headresses are handmade lace and the dresses all HAND-embroidered. It is all amazingly beautiful.

 

Such emotion!

 

And now we come to the Flor de Piña dance done by the community of San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec. This is a dance that was choreographed relatively recently-- in 1958 on the order of the governor of Oaxaca because this area did not have a characteristic dance. The Profesora Paulina Solis Ocampo created the choreography to represent the joy of the women of this region when there is a good pineapple harvest. The dancers wear the utterly beautiful huipiles that are traditional to a number of neighboring communities.

Pictured below is perhaps the most favorite part of this most favorite dance, when most of the dancers line up and move as one, in perfect synchony, to the front and back of the stage, very quickly. It's enchanting to watch and the crowd wildly cheers their support. All while continuing to hold the pineapple on their shoulder, por supuesto!

 

Hopefully, you can get a glimpse of the diversity of symbols in the huipiles as well as method of embroidery and applique:

Another dance regarding the harvest of piña (pineapple), this time from the community of Loma Bonita, from the Papaloapan: 

 

After "harvesting" the pineapples, the dancers cut up the pineapples and ate them. For real!

 
Loma Bonita also performed dances specific to their region, with sones like "El Son de Sotavento" that feature lots of zapateado. These trajes feature lovely lace, both in blouses of the women as well as their petticoats.

 Very colorful and delightful are the bailes and sones from San Pedro Pochutla

 Finally, the Chinas Oaxaqueñas to close out the Guelaguetza until the next year! Of course with fireworks, puppets, women dancing with large flowered baskets, more fireworks, much pageantry and much joy,

 

¡QUE VIVE LA GUELAGUETZA! 

¡QUE VIVE OAXACA!