Arriba! Folklorico Music and Dance of Mexico

The dynamic music of Nayarit, including the Danza de los Machetes or El Jarabe Nayarita.

This is the more popular dance of this region.

The men wear black boots and calzones de manta (that is, the beige colored trousers), with a brightly colored shirt (in some groups, a camisa de manta, or shirt of the same fabric, is worn). The men use scarves or headbands around their temples. They wear a sash of brightly colored fabric, and they would use this sash for holding in place their machetes.

The men carry 2 machetes, and they incorporate their use even when they dance.

The men use machetes for their work in the ZAFRA (i.e., the harvest of the sugar cane). During the dance, they wield their blades, as they would be in competition with other men who may be rivals for the affection of the pretty senoritas.

During the Jarabe Nayarita, the men not only clang the blades together to the tempo and beat of the musical melodies of fast movements, but they then toss the machete to the man facing him, and they EXCHANGE the blades in mid-air, and even later on have them cover their eyes and keep clanging the machetes together to the music, sometimes with sparks flying from the grind of metal against metal.

Also discussed is the dance called El Buey, which describes the agricultural livelihood in the towns and villages of Nayarit.

This episode takes you to the beautiful tropical paradise of Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico, bordering on the Central American nations.

We describe the costume and the dances of the Chamula tribe, especially the songs of El Jibali (the wild boar), El Rascapetate and Las Chiapanecas. We also mention the music from the instrument of the marimba, as we hear the accompaniment of the folklorico dancers at a live performance at an outdoor ampitheatre in San Antonio, Texas, during the Fiesta event in April.

Indigenous folkloric dances--the Aztecs, Mayas and Yaquis.

Imagine it to be the late 15the Century or early 16th Centruy -- a time before the year 1519, before the arrival of the Spaniards to Mexico.

It is a cool and breezy afternoon in the central highland plateau of Mexico.

It is possibly the afternoon of the equinox, a religious feast day of tremendous magnitude in the religion of the people that inhabit a major metropolis of nearly one million people in the city of Tenochtitlan, the capital city of the Aztec empire.

The call from the conchas, or shell, alerts the people that the hour has arrived for the religious celebration to take place around the base of the pyramids in the center of the city. The entire population will be asked to participate.

From all the causeways that lead to the center of Tenochtitlan, the people come marching to be in the festivities in which they will pay thanks and homage to their deities.

Atop the top of the pyramid, at the teocalli, the smoke from a small fire can be seen; the high priests from the orden sacerdotal, or the sacerdotal order, await for the massing of the people.

When they are all together, the festivities begin –

-the incantations are given,

- the guerras floridas take place; these are the mock battles and mock wars fought with flowers and banners surrounded by flowers on bamboo or reed shafts carried by warriors and swung like knives and swords, instead of the real weapons;

- the human sacrifices are performed;

- and then the dance begins...

this podcast opens by setting the stage of the folkloric dances of the ancient Aztec empire -- what we call, las DANZAS INDIGENAS – the folkloric dances of the indigenous tribes of Mexico.

This scenario took place in many of the indigenous tribal cities – from Tlaxcala to Cholula to Tenochtitlan, the central might of the Aztec empire, which is today Mexico City.

In this episode, we will cover the danzas indigenas, that is the pre-Columbian era of Mexican folklore and dance.

We cover 3 regions or tribes and their pre-Columbian dances: (1) the Aztecs with their dances honoring their deities called Quetzalcoatl and Huizilopotchli; (2) the Poblanos and their Danza de los Quetzales; and (3) the famous Danza del Venado of the Yaquis in the Northwestern desert areas of Sonora.

Different examples of the music are given in this podcast episode, as the recordings came from an outdoor, live performance of Ballet Folklorico groups in a free presentation at the large open-air ampitheatre in San Antonio, Texas.

This podcast also contains a brief discussion of the importance of folkloric dance to the indigenous peoples of Mexico, as well as how it set the stage of the evolution of what is today folklorico music and dance of Mexico, after the coming of the Spaniards and the Conquest of Mexico.

Jarocho dances from Veracruz and La Bamba.

In this episode, we explore the Eastern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, in the lively culture of the Jarocho people in Veracruz and those around the River Papaloapan. Besides el Tilingo Lingo. la Bruja and El Aguanieve (El Zapateado), the focus is on the wedding dance, el son de La Bamba. In addition, the costumes are vividly described, along with the romantic Mexican custom of the serenata (the serenade), but this time, Mananitas con jarana.

Mariachi music from a key Director, composer, author and singer.

Interview with Jose Hernandez, Director of the Mariachi Sol de Mexico and owner of the Restaurant Cielito Lindo in Southern California. During the conversation, folklorico dance and the mariachi music are discussed -- origins, personalities, impact by Sol de Mexico, and the future of the culture as influenced by Mariachi music

Promo podcast and an introduction to Jalisco and Jarabe Tapatio.

This is a promo podcast for the series Arriba! Folklorico music and dance of Mexico. In addition, we explore the origins of the Jarabe Tapatio, one of the most well-known folkloric dances of Mexico.