A great day to be a tourist!

On November 2nd, everyone from my work skipped out and went to the Zocalo (town center) to observe Day of the Dead celebrations. Besides las ofrendas, which I’ve already described, another important aspect of the Day of the Dead are the Catrinas. Catrinas are paper-maché skeletons. Artists mold the 8 ft. tall skeleton, and then they “clothe” her with all sorts of designs. The Catrina traditionally appears in late 1800, early 1900 aristocratic-style dress, usually with an ornate fashionable hat or a parasol, and a big billowy dress. The Catrina derives from a mixture of pre- and post-Hispanic Mexico. The Catrina is the more modern representation of Aztec goddess of the underworld, Mictecacihuatl, but she is also a representation of a high society women in the early 1900s when the skeleton Catrina was first drawn by Jose Guadalupe Posada. She is a reminder that even the most glamorous and wealthy person is just as susceptible to death as the poorest and lowliest. Anyways, enough of the history, back to the semipresent day…

In the Zocalo (town center), there were over 25 Catrinas set up during the last week of October and the first week of November. I have posted pictures of them, so please take a look - they’re gorgeous! There was even a contest for the “best dressed”!
After meandering through the Catrinas and the Ofrendas, I began to notice more and more half naked men running around in loinclothes. A big crowd was gathering at the far end of the Zocalo, and I figured if men in loincloths were involved, I should probably go see what all of the commotion was about. Well it turns out that traditional tribal dancers – men and women and children – were gathering to reenact an ancient ceremony in honor of the Day of the Dead!!! I felt like I had hit the cultural jackpot! The dancers were still getting dressed in their huge, elaborate headdresses made of real feathers, bone, leather, etc. They also painted themselves in customary designs. Those who were ready were busy making a mandala-like ceremonial space. Instead of using sand, they used flower petals, seeds, corn, plants, and soil to make a very intricate, elaborate design including replicas of ancient depictions of skulls (in case you haven’t figured it out already, skulls and skeletons are primary features of the Day of the Dead).
Now, I should back up a little bit and explain that traditional Aztec dance is part of the curriculum for every school. This might be true for all of Mexico, I can’t remember, but it is certainly true in the state of Morelos. It is a beautiful way to commemorate and maintain their history and heritage. The only downside is the kids’ families have to pay for the costumes themselves, and they are expensive, so poor children have to buy the dance outfits as part of the school curriculum, and it can be a huge financial burden on their families. However, the majority of the children really enjoy the dances and ceremonies, which they perform at special school celebrations and on holidays.

To commence the ceremony, three drummers played on drums that were exact replicas of those used by their ancestors. Then, a man blew the ceremonial conch shell, which indicates the official commencement. Then the dancers circled around the ceremonial space, forming an inner and an outer circle. In the inner circle were the tribes’ leaders, with their bigger, more brilliant headdresses, and everyone else filled in the outer circle. As the dancers danced into their circles, the tribal leader – an elderly woman who looked every bit the part of a tribal leader – blessed the space with incense and added more dried corn husks to the mandala design. Then she spoke to the rest of the group for awhile in a Nahuatl dialect. After that, the drummers commenced again, and the dancers began to yelp and jump around as other instruments joined in – a small recorder-like instrument made out of bamboo, maracas, among others. Some of the dancers had strings of nut shells tied around their ankles, so their every movement produced a clacking noise. Gradually the jumping around evolved into an actual dance, with a few of the tribe leading the way. First they danced in place, then circled to the right and left. They also danced facing each of the four directions - north, south, east, and west. I have pictures and videos, so please check them out, because I am not at all doing the ceremony justice.

Unfortunately, I had to leave the dance early, but it wasn’t too unfortunate because I was going to a free showing of traditional post-Hispanic Mexican dance and traditional folk music. The show took place in the gardens that were previously owned by Emperor Maximilian – part of Austria’s Hapsburg family who reined Mexico very briefly from 1863-1866. The gardens are smack dab in the middle of the city, but like every beautiful space in Cuernavaca, it is hidden behind a deceiving wall. As soon as you walk past the wall and through the entrance, there’s this huge, lush garden with tons of fountains (something like Furman, actually). Sister Kathy, my “date” to the show, treated me to an ice cream of guava fruit (incredible!!!), and we wiggled our way through the huge crowd to find a seat around a large pool with several fountains. The stage was set up behind the pool. The mayor of Cuernavaca spoke, and the first act began with several dance couples. The girls wore the traditional long skirt with LOTS of extra material, to allow for movement. The girls keep their hands on the ends of their skirts, and constantly twirl their skirt, so as to “flirt” with the male dancers who march around them doing all sorts of complicated feet stompings. In the second act, couples danced more with each other, and spinned and twirled around, which I have since found out is terribly difficult (I tried to dance with someone like that myself with very little success). The last dance act was more of a play scene than dancing. A man and a woman first came on stage walking arm in arm. Then the girl got mad at her escort because he flirted with another woman, so the man tried to apologize and win her favor again. But after repeated failures, the man became frustrated, threw a fit, and then gestured that he was done with her too, at which point the girl came running back and tried to regain his favor until they both made up and lived happily ever after. I preferred the actual dancing, but the acting was interesting.

After the dancing act, the program included a special string musical number of traditional songs. So we waited anxiously to hear them play. And we waited, and waited, and waited. I made friends with a little boy, Miguel, who was sitting next to me with his mother. Soon the whole family came over to talk with me, and Miguel and his brother showed me some moves they learned in their traditional dance class, which were incredibly impressive! So that kept me occupied, but after about 45 min. the crowd started to get restless, so they brought out the Catrina – a person dressed up as a Catrina that walks through the crowd on these huge stilts, and dances as part of the show. Well, the Catrina couldn’t dance without any music, so after she had walked through the crowd, they started setting off fireworks. The fireworks show lasted about 15 minutes, and was mostly these really huge fireworks that they set off too low for comfort. Eventually their stalling ideas ran out, and we waited for a total of an hour and a half for the band! It turns out they never showed up! I have sinced learned that no-shows are fairly common in Mexico, but even Miguel and his parents were saying that the event was pretty poorly planned. So finally, the last act came on (who were also very late in arriving due to bus trouble), and played several different varieties of guitar and a native African instrument that sounds like an accordion, but looks like a big box. They played, and were very good, and the Catrina came back out and danced with the band members. The show ended after 3 hours – it was supposed to be 1 ½ hours – and I went back and went to sleep. Despite the slow finish, I had certainly had one of the best tourist days of my life!