Middle America
(More after this quote from Encyclopedia Brittanica):
The northern boundary of Middle America is rather vague, lying somewhere in the central Mexican state of Jalisco, where the Indians are largely acculturated to Mexican society. The area from Jalisco to the Panama Canal displays a bewildering network of native musical styles in mountain and jungle, hybrid and modern music, and rural and urban styles. It would be convenient to assign the flute and drum music to native rites and the stringed music to Spanish fiestas, but there are exceptions. Flutes, not stringed instruments, accompany the European-derived dances of moros y cristianos ("Moors and Christians") and conquista ("conquest") dramas with clearly medieval tunes. These and other dances, such as the santiaguitos and the matachines, are derived from European ritual dances for small groups of men. Cacophonous flute ensembles hail the birth, marriage, and death rites of the acculturated Tarascan Indians in Michoacan. On the other hand, stringed instruments appear in Carnival and Lenten festivals, in the armadillo-shell lutes of the concheros dancers, and in the fiddle accompaniments for the arrieros ("mule-drivers") dance. ...
Every fiesta is a conglomerate, with, perhaps, a native volador (flying acrobat) performance; a variant of the santiaguitos-matachines-moros y cristianos dances; morality plays with chants and fiddles; and, finally, huapangos, lively couple dances with fiddles in jig tunes.
To further confuse the issue, contiguous tribal groups manifest contrasting styles. In southern Chiapas state, city dwellers delight in the Indian chiapanecas girls' dance and its music. The mountain Tzotzil Indians of Chamula and Zinacantán, Chiapas, have devised their own versions of stringed music, with handmade guitars and harps, and, again, contrapuntal combinations (i.e., with two or more simultaneous melodies) of trumpet, reed flute, and drum. In the nearby swamps, the Lacandon, an isolated branch of the Maya, maintain their ancient, shamanistic chants, their conch-shell trumpets, and prehistoric drums. Again, descendants of the ancient horizontal slit-drums of the Maya survive in the city of Mérida, Yucatán.
Though it would be a vast simplification, it is not impossible to set off the native musical styles retained in mountains, jungles, deserts, and generally in rural settlements as distinctly different from the music encountered at urban political fiestas and tourist attractions.
The Fiesta of la Virgen de Guadelupe is the most important festival in Mexican tradition. The date of the Fiesta is Dec. 12, and in Independence, Oregon, every year in this month a group of men originally from Jalisco who now live in Independence gather to perform the ancient ritual dances.
I was recruited to help with the music after the local group lost their fiddle player. I learned from copies of tapes made on hand-held cassette recorders at dances in Mexico and with much help from Pablo Orozco, rhythm guitarist. [Pablo also plays excellent accordian in the Norteño style in other venues]. The two of us do all the music for the Independence dancers.
These are long dances, done traditionally by two rows of men. In the Independence group there are a couple of young ladies dressed the same as the men, and a few boys. There are usually about 24 people in the dance, plus the clowns. In addition, a group of children ages 8-15 have been working out the dances on their own; it is a living tradition. In the last few years a group of mainly teenagers have been doing them in Corvallis, and Pablo and I provide the music.
The attire might be described as Festival: shiny headpieces which include pictures of la Virgen and trail long ribbons, decorative vest stuff, a tan apron with decorations and bony tassels that rattle against each other, in the right hand a rattle and in the left hand a small bow. The bow is about 18" long, strung with rubber tubing and with an arrow in place so that when the arrow is pulled back and released there is a clack! sound of wood on wood. Under the costume everyone wears a white shirt, blue jeans, and choice of shoes, often nice cowboy boots.
An interesting addition is that while the dancers step through their patterns, there are also clowns, usually two, dancing in, out, through and around the lines of the dancers, both dancing with and mocking them. The Independence clowns have worn different outfits for each of the fifteen or so performances I have seen. Once one had a cowboy outfit and a Nixon mask, while the other wore a black robe, a large cross and a blonde wig and a mask. Sometimes both will have cap guns in holsters and have gunfights through the rows of dancers. Recently, after an encounter with a rather pushy news photographer the time before, they both brought camera kits in waist bags, and took photos of everyone, assuming whatever posture was necessary for a good angle including lying down in the middle of the dance and looking up. They had done a lot of preparation also, cutting many portrait photos from magazines in pasting them on cards; they would take the photo of someone in the audience, then wave the 3x4" card until it appeared dry, and give it to the subject. After the last dance in Salem last Dec. 12, they took the photo of Pablo the guitarist: and handed him a photo of a rock star with guitar, same color hair, same color shirt. Very handsome.
Each dance has a specific tune, and the dancers refer to the tune either by the name of the step or of a particular pattern of the dance; thus we have Los Pasos for one lively step or Portalitos for the little-windows dance, la son de los Pasos for one with a particularly active step, etc.
Each dance has a specific pattern of foot-work or shuffle, while the lines weave through a wide variety of patterns. Each individual dance will last about 15 to 18 minutes. Some are quite active.
In Portalitos, the window, the main figure is something like a cross between duck-and-dive the length of the hall, and knit two perl one in weaving. Men in opposite lines hold on to their partner's bow, making a pair: the head pair faces down the line, while the others face up: The 1st couple ducks under the second, but then backs up and goes over them while facing the same way, then re-ducks under them again, before going to the second pair, where they duck and dive and re-duck again; proceed to the third in the same manner; when they begin to duck under the fourth pair, the second pair follows them ducking and backing and re-ducking under the third pair, until everyone is ducking under or back-passing over, retreating over or under and repeating, to the far end; followed by a turn as a pair and repeat in the opposite direction until the head pair is back in place, and the knitting and perling gradually subsides until the last two have backed through the next-to-last for the last time. And a few other figures in the same dance - these go on for a while.
The dancers have said the dances are ancient Aztec, which I think is not likely. I think the ritual dances and the tunes are derived from Medieval Spain, passed through centuries of native influence; or perhaps combined with native tradition. Some notes in the tunes definitely reflect the cries of exotic birds or coyotes. The title of one, Pico Perico, might translate at Parrot Beak, and has a very specific high sound of a birdcall in it.
Among other specific steps are los Arcos (The Bows), which features at the end of each line of music, a double clack-clack producing by snapping the wooden clacker on the bow-strings, with a motion as if shooting an arrow.
In La Columbiana, the pattern of the dance is done entirely on one foot until the end of the musical line (about 8 beats), when the dancer comes down on both feet then changes active foot.
La Cruz brings the dancers into crossed lines in the shape of a Cross, in variations.
El Adiós, always the last offering, is a particularly lovely dance. It is addressed specifically to The Virgin of Guadelupe. After some other figures, the men begin to remove their finery. The first pair dance up to the altar of the virgin and lay their headdress down; they then dance backwards to the second pair, do a little in-and-out figure there, always facing the Lady, and accompany the second pair up, who lay their headdresses down next to those of the first pair; repeated with each couple, and then all repeated again for the decorated aprons and at last for the bows and rattles; when the last couple have danced back to place, all kneel to the Lady and the series of dance is over.
Most of the dances are done by the men's group, and may last two hours. There is also a children's group, which is learning to continue the tradition.
If you wish to be notified of the dance schedule for the coming season, email me at truprice@wvi.com sometime in Nov. or early Dec., and I'll send you what I know of the schedule. Performances will almost certainly include Corvallis on Dec. 12; usually there are other performances as well, often Salem, and we have travelled as far as Forest Grove.