I was most looking forward to dancing to my favorite local band, La Falsa Orquesta Cubana, and indeed, we danced to salsa, bolero, cumbia and conga till well after midnight. The highlight of the evening, however, were the three performances by the new graduates.
It is unbelievable how talented these young adults are! Representing ten different states of Mexico, they are, indeed, a national pride. I didn’t attend the Delfos fundraiser last weekend, but I’ve heard from 7-8 people how disappointing the choreography was. Not Wednesday night! This choreography rocked! There were three student-choreographed performances:
Bripola, a two-person dance about the vibrations that occur when the strings of a small guitar are plucked and strummed.
Diagram of the Trajectory of Laurence, another dance by two dancers, representing the steps forward, backwards, up, down and sideways through space.
Passaro, a group dance representing the intense energy of flying birds.
Many of the graduates’ families came from out of state to support them, and donated items for the silent auction and door prizes. The dinner was also amazingly good.
THANK YOU to all of you who read this blog and bought your tickets and got a table together! Seeing the energy, excitement and talent in these young people gave everyone who attended such encouragement.
If you would like to support their effort to raise money for the airfare, you can deposit your donation to Bancomer #0193238377, in the name of El Espacio del Verbo. You can also donate from US$5 upwards via Internet on Fondeadora.
If any of the students would like high-resolution images of these photos without the watermark for your personal use, just let me know.
I do sincerely hope the event raised a lot of money for your journey. Best of luck! Show them just how talented Mazatlán and México are!
Now I have even BETTER news! You can help them get to Italy AND attend one of the BEST dance parties EVER! The date is Wednesday, March 16, and the venue is the Hotel Playa. Our absolute favorite local band, La Falsa Orquesta Cubana, will be playing. The 650 peso price includes a 3-course meal and dance performances. This is indeed going to be a night to remember!
I do NOT want to have you tell me after the fact, “Why didn’t you let me know?” So, please, share this news widely with all your friends! Get a table together and come, let’s dance and have some fun! And, oh yeah, support the kids 😉
Two businesses have tickets on sale: Look Gallery and HelArte ice cream shop across from the Nid Art Gallery. Isa Medina will be selling tickets at Allegro Café on Wednesday March 9 from 9-11am, and at the same times on Tuesday March 15 at Allegro in the Zona Dorada. You can contact her and she will deliver tickets to you: isahudgins@gmail.com
Secondly, I want to let you know that TODAY, Friday during Art Walk, the about-to-graduate dancers will be performing short pieces and contemporary dance fragments at four different galleries around town: BAUPRES, DELIRIUM, LOOK, and NIDART. The kids and their friends/family will be collecting donations and selling tickets for the fundraising dinner. The schedule is:
Baupres, Delirium and Nidart: dance performances at 5:00, 6:00 and 7:00 with live music in between/during the break.
Look: continuous dance performance from 5:00 onwards to recorded music.
CONGRATULATIONS to the 24 dancers, from 10 Mexican states, who are among the 15th graduating class of the Escuela Profesional de Danza de Mazatlán (EPDM). They have been invited to attend—on scholarship—the very prestigious OPEN FLR intensive dance lab in Florence, Italy!
This invitation is a huge coup for these young dancers, as it provides them the ability to work with other internationally acclaimed teachers, to meet premier dancers from all over the world, and it provides wonderful opportunity for future work. Not to mention that it showcases Mazatlán and México on the world stage!
They will graduate on July 1st, and the very next day they hope to fly to Florence—the dance lab takes place July 2-20. The organizers of the internationally acclaimed intensive saw the group perform their self-choreographed “El Espacio del Verbo” in December at the Encuentro Nacional de Danza. The invitation came shortly afterwards.
However, the young dancers need our help! Once they arrive in Florence, they’ll be on scholarship to the dance lab, and they will also be given housing. They will need to pay their airfare to get to Florence, and they only have 45 days.
The graduating class has already held a bazaar to raise funds, and they are planning a dinner. They’ve also set up a fundraising page, at which it’s very easy to donate any amount from 50 to 5000 pesos or its equivalent. The page is in Spanish, but I believe it’s intuitive to use even for non-Spanish readers. We’ve already made a contribution, and we hope you will, too!
We are so blessed to have the internationally award-winning Delfos Contemporary Dance troupe based here in Mazatlán. Claudia, Victor and Omar are a blessing to our community. Back in 1998 they founded the Escuela Profesional de Danza de Mazatlán (EPDM), and today we reap the fruits of their efforts, in the incredible dancing we are able to affordably witness here. Congratulations to the young dancers, and to their able teachers! We are very proud of you!
The two gentlemen in the photo above very kindly explained
a bit about the dance to me, and walked me through the ceremony.
They live in a pueblo between Guasave and Los Mochis.
Last year we were privileged to welcome spring with the famous Deer Dance (danza del venado), conducted in the scenic oceanside setting of Las Labradas petroglyph park, a 30 minute drive north of Mazatlán. The dance was conducted by the Yeu Matchue, a traditional dance group of Mayo or Yoreme Indians.
The dance will be conducted again this coming Wednesday, March 21 in the same location, as part of Mazatlán’s International Friendship Week. Be sure not to miss this event!
The Mayo are considered to have the purest native blood in Mexico. While centuries ago they performed the Danza del Venado in full deerskin clothing with a bow and arrow (it’s the dance of the hunt, and I am Dianne, the goddess of the hunt, ha ha), to welcome the spring solstice at Las Labradas they wore white cotton manta (symbolizing purity), leather belts with deer hooves and bells, they wrapped their shins in leggings made of shells (representing snakes entangled in the deer’s legs), red bandanas (to honor the deer’s sacrifice of its blood), and sonajas or wrist and ankle bands made of nuts and shells. They carry red gourd maracas or shakers.
I grew up in northern Arizona, spending many weekends as a child in the 70s with my friends on the Hopi mesas. I was able to witness the Snake Dance, eat my fill of piki bread spread by hand over a hot rock, and play with the Mudheads. The deer dances soooo reminded me of the Kachina dances! Amazing similarities in dress, adornment, line dancing, movement, underlying beliefs of harmony with the environment, even the music and chanting. The noise makers (shells, gourds) were reminiscent of artisan rattles worldwide, whether from Africa, Asia, Oceania…
There were at least two dancers who wore taxidermic deer heads decorated with flowers, fastened to their heads with leather straps. They pranced, twitched, paused and sniffed, incredibly evoking the sense that we were watching a deer move through a clearing. It was eerie and beautiful to watch.
It was gratifying to see so many young people involved in the ceremony. It is obvious the young Mayo/Yoreme are eager to carry on the traditions of their elders and ancestors.
Above is a minute or so of video of the dance.
In addition to the boys with the headdresses, there were quite a few others dressed similarly but wearing masks. The masks were made of torote or poplar wood, both very sacred, and painted with smiling faces as well as Christian crosses, with long hair. Again, the long hair reminded me of the kachinas.
The musicians included a couple of fiddlers who sat in wooden chairs as they played, a large harp (played standing), gourds (sonatas de bule), jiruquias, and various drummers including a water drum.
The shaman had an altar or offering of fresh fruit, as well as a container of incense that he used for purification during the ceremony as well as to purify or bless the spectators afterwards. The purification ritual was very similar to what I’ve experienced at Teotihucán on the solstice, or in Mexico City nowadays on the street corners.
The dance was an interesting mix of indigenous and Christian ceremony, in the Mayo language and rhythms. When we arrived we saw several flags or banners with crosses on them on the beach. Beside these were placed the deer headdresses and rattles.
During the ceremony, the dancers made the Catholic sign of the cross and held their hands in prayer. It was evident that the Jesuits of the 16th century had much influence on these indigenous rituals.
As with almost any special event I’ve attended in Mexico, the Deer Dance ceremony also included fireworks.
An exhibition of the ancient ball game of ulamawas also part of last year’s Spring Equinox events. It took place just outside the museum. A game is on the schedule for this year.
Las Labradas is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The oceanside petroglyphs, mystical figures carved into the rocks, are dated by INAH at 1000-1500 years old and of Toltec origin. There is a small museum at the site.
If you’d like to attend this event next week you can drive north of Mazatlán on Highway 15, exiting at Km. 51 where you’ll see the large petroglyph marker on the west side of the maxipista. It is a dirt road after you leave the highway, through Chicayota to Las Labradas. Alternatively you can take one of the buses that the Sinaloa State Tourism Office has arranged, to depart from la Mujer Mazatleca monument in Olas Altas at 9:00 am. To reserve your spot contact mazatlanturismocultural@gmail.com, or telephone 191-2005. Be sure to wear white clothing.
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Update May 26, 2012: Today the Noroeste ran an article about these dances, including some of the dancers photographed above. It’s in honor of Festival de la Juventud.
… last Wednesday night at the Hotel Playa with the 24 new graduates of the Escuela Profesional de Danza. What a wonderful evening! It was a benefit to help send the kids to Florence, Italy, in July for a dance festival and ten days of workshops—they’ve been offered free tuition/scholarships and home stays. Click on any photo to enlarge it or view a slideshow:
¡VidaMaz! 