RE-DESCRIBING THE AZTEC DANCERS

Readers of this blog are now familiar with my returning to a topic time and again as I gain more knowledge or simply rethink a topic.    This blog does exactly that as I take another run at the notion of the Aztec dance mentioned in two previous post, one on my experience in San Miguel De Allende during el dia de la conquista and the most recent on our visit to the Basilica de Guadalupe in Mexico City.   On both occasions I wrote after having read the thoughts of Max Harris which you can find in his book Carnival.   Now I have found the anthropologist that Harris relied on for some of his commentary and this reading has given me new insights and raised new problems.  The works of Susanna Rostas focus on the dance of the Concheros (often described as Aztec dancers) and the dance of the Mexica (who more genuinely may be considered Aztec dancers, but the term that has become more popular, and more accurate, is Mexica).   It is often difficult to distinguish between these two groups and they do on occasion dance together, so it might be helpful to others if I present a brief review of what I believe Rostas is saying.

These 3 photos give a general sense of the attire.

This group may well be Mexica:  they are young, not dancing in a circle but more on their own and are very showy.

If you have seen groups of dancers with substantial feather head-dresses, often wearing partial masks representing animal figure and wearing “costumes” with bead work, patterned clothing that looks Aztec-like and bells on their feet, these are very likely one of the above two groups.  Here is how Rostas distinguishes the groups.
Concheros
1. Central to their performance is the use of a stringed instrument that we might call a mandolin (introduced by the Spanish) and often with the shell of an armadillo as the backing.  This shell is called a conch, hence the name of the dancer.
2. The dancers are primarily spiritual and the dance includes many rituals.   The dance begins with a required ritual including turning to the four cardinal points,  asking permission of God, or the spirits,  to dance and drawing a cross with a foot.
3. Dancers cover a substantial part of their bodies (although this is changing).
4. A visit to the church at the site of the dance was required.
5. The leader of the group dances in the centre of the circle and invites other dancers to join him or to lead for a part of the dance.
6. The goal of the dance is  a form of transcendence in which the ego is available for change or improvement.
7. The dance itself is performed slowly.
8. Dancers are men and women and tend to be middle aged.

Here we have a dancer with the mandolin.

Here is the home base of a dance group.  If you can zoom in you will find about 7 mandolins (several with the armadillo shell) and only one drum to keep the rhythm, an image of the Virgin, many incense burners and a flower design on the pavement.   This design is a custom of the Concheros and is usually of a cross (in this case rather stylized).

Mexica
1. The drum is the essential instrument as the mandolin is seen as too Spanish.
2. Dancers are primarily in to performance and politics.  No ritual is required to begin the dance.
3. Dancers expose a great deal of the body.
4. Dancers seldom visit the church and tend to be non-religious in the Christian sense.
5. There is no leader and the dancers often appear to be in competition.
6. The goal is the presentation of a self that is already formed and to the making of a political statement - the need to return to a state prior to the arrival of the Spanish.  They are offering a new sense of identity.
7. The dance is performed quickly in a competitive state.
8. Dancers are young and predominately male.

An indication that this group is Concheros is the number of women participating.

If you have read my previous post you can now see that it is the dance of the Mexica that Harris complains about.  I now wonder if Harris was at the same event at the Basilica as I; the dancers I saw were mostly concheros and yet Harris seems to be talking about the Mexica.

According to Rostas the concheros have been round for some time, certainly since the 19th century.  According the the origin mythof the Concheros they came from the region known el Bajio which covers the states of Michoacán, Jalisco, Queretaro and Guanjuato.  Only Querataro was ruled by the Aztecs so I am puzzled as to how the concheros became Aztec dancers.  It is possible they simply looked around for a strong Mexican image or perhaps an indigenous image and chose the Aztecs (and then refined this image over 100 or more years). The Mexica on the other hand are a recent movement emerging on the scene by 1990.  The concheros come from a rural background and tend to have more direct links to an indigenous past.  The Mexica tend to be urban males from a mixed background and living marginalized lives in the city.  Feeling no part of the Mexican state and its institutions which they feel are all imported, they began a movement to make the political point that Mexican institutions and Mexican identity should be built on the pre-conquest experience.   You can now better understand Harris’ point - the non-indigenous Mexica claim a privileged status and in the desire for an ethnic connection drive out, or drum out, the real ethnics.

A group in front of the Basilica de Guadalupe.  You can see 3 banners and each has the maxim Unidad, Conformidad y Conquista and all have a religious image.  One banner gives the name of the captain as well as their origin.  That banner also uses the term "Danza Azteca".  Again we see many women so probably a group of Concheros.

Now the matter that puzzles me.  Rostas claims that the maxim of the Conchero (often stated on their banners) is “Unidad, Conformidad and Conquista”.   The phrase presents the need to come together in common purpose and to unite with God through the ritual of asking permission to dance, to conform to the needs of the dance and in so doing to conquer your ego.  All of this is evident in the dance itself.   My puzzle is that this appears to have nothing to do with the conquest in a more literal sense.   However, in San Miguel de Allende we saw the Concheros dance to celebrate the conquest, el dia de la conquista.   This day is about the Spanish (Christian) conquest.  A quick review of history shows that the Spanish created an image of Santo Cristo de la conquista as far back as the 12 or 13 century.  This was done to celebrate a particular military conquest.  This Saint is now also know as Santo Cristo de los milagros (Saint of the miracles) and you can find this image in the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City.  I don’t believe there is a similar image in San Miguel de Allende so I am not sure whey the dance is held in San Miguel.  But, it is clearly a dance to celebrate the conquest.  Since the Concheros were present I can only assume the term "conquest" has multiple meanings for them.   During that dance in San Miguel there are also at least two groups of Matlachine dancers (see my post on this dance) who have their roots in the dance of the Moors and Christians.   These groups also carry banners which state Unidad, Conformidad and Conquista.  Rostas does acknowledge that the reading of the phrase varies from group to group and does evolve.  So, I now wonder if the dance and the phrase originally did have something to do with a celebration of the Spanish (and Christian) conquest of Mexico.

This dancer appeared to be in a transcendent state.

Here we have two examples of the use of animal masks.

In conclusion, Rostas states that both the Concheros and the Mexica have moved closer to the other over the years so that it become more difficult to distinguish them.  By looking for some of the details reported here you should be able to do it.

In preparing this I read three things by Susanna Rostas and I encourage you to check them out:
 
1. The first 20 pages of Rostas' book, Carrying the Word:  Conchero dancers in Mexico City (2009).  You can find this on google books.  I look forward to getting my hands on the entire book.  Click here
2. ‘Mexicanidad’ the resurgence of the Indian in popular Mexican Nationalism.  1997  Click here
3. From performance to performativity: the concheros of Mexico (1998)  in Felicia Hughes-Freeland (ed.)  Ritual, Performance, Media  (Chapter 4).   In 2005 published as an ebook.  Click here

LA DANZA DEL TORITO

In previous posts I have described and commented on la danza Aztecs and la danza Matlachines, both of which I saw in San Miguel de Allende during the celebration of el dia de la conquista. The third dance performed that day was la danza del torito. I was not able to make any sense of this dance, thinking it must be a version of a carnival dance. Then I stumbled on a post from “mexicobob” which provides a description and explanation. Have a look at his post: mexicobob.

Photo: in the photo above you are able to see two of the three maranguillas performing that day (one of these may have been la borracha), el viejito (with the cane), el charo (the one with the little horse) and the devil with his whip. Other dancers, including the bull, were there but not in the photo.

The viejito

Perhaps this is the rancher

El toro and one of the Maranguillas.

Bob’s description of this event makes sense to me except for the role of the bull. Having read Max Harris I have begun to look for “hidden transcripts” and considering that the dance took place during the celebration of the conquest, I wondered if the bull in fact wasn’t a representation of the Spanish (the invader or the foreign). Is the message: they too will pass and we will remain? But, it the dance was first performed in 1830 and the primary character is a hacienda owner we are talking about those of pure Spanish blood but born in Mexico (Criollos), the group which began the first revolution and in spite of the significant role of Morelos (the indigenous military leader who first talked about independence and equality) came to own the land and dominate politics. Further, if the dance began in 1830 I am quite sure it was a creation of an indigenous group (rather than mestizos) and it would have a message. Is the dance then a show of resistance to this group? If we follow the logic of Harris, very few dances are just entertainment, there is frequently a hidden message. Could it be as simple as: the Spanish - or the Criollos - are caught between evil and death. But evil didn’t win out during the dance so we are left with death being the victor. The indigenous peoples are represented by the “apache” (I have not seen this dancer in two viewings) but since he is also defeated this does not appear to be a dance of resistance. Or, is it a more obvious dance of resistance with the toro representing the indigenous people who will only be defeated by death?

This is "el Moco"

I am open to suggestions on how to interpret this dance.

BLACK MEN OF SEVINA

an subsequent post (titled, Driving on New Years Day)) I mentioned learning that the “black men” were to dance on January 1 in the puebla of Sevina. On January 3 we returned to Sevina to see a concurso of dance happening in late afternoon. We had not seen the black men before, although we had seen them a previous year but only from from a distance so knew nothing of their masks. That year we had seen a number of dancers on the way to the home of a carguero, dressed in dark suits (what we now know to be “catrin” outfits, that is citifed clothing) but what were the masks? Were they negritios? This was my expectation. What a surprise when I walked up a hill to the carguero’s house this year having seen a crowd gathering and hearing band music. The dancers were all in their dark suits, but the masks! They were conquistadores. The masks of the conquerors of Mexico. These masks show a very pale skin, bright blue eyes and a substantial golden beard. Their hats were spectacular, looking somewhat like a traditional marching band hat but with flower decorations and many silver adornments. Later I was able to talk to the mask maker of this town and learned two things: first, the conquistadores were the ones who took baby Jesus from the manger in the church on December 26 and returned it to the carguero of the image. This job is reserved for the most honored dancers and in many communities this is the negrito. The history of the negrito in Tarascan communities is very interesting and well documented by Janet Esser (1988). So why were these black men not negritos? I am a little unclear of this, but the mask maker claimed that in the early days the mask maker either could not carve black masks or they were not very well done. His speciality was the mask of the conqueror and commonsense determined that this would be the mask used. Although very good negrito masks are now carved by the chief carver, the masks of the conquistadores are still the more honorable masks.

The dance competition began around 5:00 pm and while the conquistadores were present the centre of attention was on approximately 80 other dancers with a wide variety of masks, many of them of feos (or the uglies). These dancers came on throughout the night in small groups with the only rule seeming to be that no one could speak. They had to rely on their acting ability to try and get into the character of the mask. One came to appreciate the talent needed to really communicate, over a long period of time, the personality implied by the mask the person ws wearing. Towards the end of the evening there was more of a performance and participation in the judging from the rather large audience gathered around the basketball court and on adjoining rooftops.

HATS OF THE HERMITS

While attending a pastorela dance in Michoacan I was struck by the tall pointy hats of many of the dancers. These dancers were called the hermits (ermitanos) and this hat is found in many pueblos while other hermits are characterized by a very European looking mask and on occasion by a peasant-like straw cape. The pastorela is usually performed over the Christmas season and is in essence a nativity play. The first description of such a play in Mexico is from 1586 although the performance can be dated back to the 12th century. While some of the roles appear to be similar to those dating back many years each community presents its own version and it is often difficult to see just how it relates to the nativity story. So what was the origin of the pointy hat?

I recalled my childhood days when the pointy hat was called a “dunce cap” and was associated with being stupid or misbehaving. This hat goes back to the 13th century Scottish philosopher John Duns Scotus whose ideas where very popular. Duns had his students wear a pointy hat because he believed this shape helped channel knowledge. As always happens, however, Dun’s ideas fell out of favour and the pointy hat became associated with being stupid or holding unorthodox religious ideas. We need to keep in mind that philosophy at that time was largely religious philosophy. So how does this get to Mexico?

These hermits of Ihuatzio show that not all hermits wear the pointy hat.

You may be familiar with an interesting painting by the Spanish artist Goya (1746-18280) of an ecclesiastical tribunal in which the accused wears a pointy hat. The Spanish Inquisition was introduced in 1478 and while controlled by the Catholic monarch was really a religious court aimed at maintaining Catholic orthodoxy. Spain at that time was a multi-religious society (Catholics, Jews and Muslims – and later Protestants). The Muslims were defeated in 1492 and were converting to Christianity in order to attain access to the benefits of the wider society. Jews had begun to do the same after the terrible pogroms of the last part of the 14th century. However, there was growing concern that many of these were false conversions and that in fact many were secretly practicing their previous religion. A great majority of the accused during the first 200 hundred years of the inquisition were indeed Muslims. Other offences that came to the tribunal were sexual offenses and misbehavior by priests, particularly if they were espousing unorthodox beliefs.

Here the hats are very very pointy - Santa Fe de la Languna.

The inquisition was introduced to Mexico in 1570 so we can now guess a little as to what happened. Perhaps a priest was involved in sexual misbehaviour or announced unorthodox beliefs and his punishment involved something more than acquittal and less than burning at the stake. His public humiliation led him to withdraw from the society and as a result become a little crazy. His role in the pastorela is in part comic but also a symbol of someone who gave way to temptation. Thus, like the devils and the drunkards he is to be tamed by the presence of the church.

There is a remaining mystery. In the dance depicted in the above photo all of the hats had a number on them. I was unable to imagine that this was a personal identification or a hat size, so now I wonder if it was just a random number representing the number of the accused in the ecclesiastical tribunal. Does any one have knowledge of this?