MARTHA STONE ON THE CONCHEROS

 Martha Stone:  At the Sign of Midnight: the Concheros Dance Cult of Mexico. (1975)

It was with some surprise that I read Martha Stone’s 1975 book on the Conchero dancers.   I now wish I had read it much earlier to avoid months of flailing about in attempts to understands this dance.  Although published in 1975 Stone was living in Mexico City and began to document the dance as early as 1940 and continued for 20 years, becoming a dancer and rising to the position of capitana.  Here then is a first hand account of the dance from an insider’s perspective and showing a real effort to understand the dance.  The book is written in an informal manner, introducing you to many of the participants, revealing internal tensions, and more importantly showing you much more than the dance itself.  The dance is what most of us are familiar with but the dance is supported by a wide range of other activities.  Events such as vigils which are often held prior to a dance, the death of a member, initiation of new members, loyalties, obligations, discipline, creation of the Xuchil, passing of leadership, a 'conquista', raising funds in order to create new banners as well as the everyday travails of quite poor peoples.  Stone attends events (always on invitation) in Mexico City and gradually travels to much more distant places thus providing a sense of the difficulty of travel and often being protected by the leader of a group who had presented the invitation.  She was deeply accepted by those who knew her but was under suspicion when other troops were around.  The tale of her going to the bell tower with her husband (on instructions of the dance leader) only for her to be requested to go down and then threatened with jail.  The problem was that women were not allowed in the tower.  Or the tale of a serious train accident, a train she was supposed to be on, where many of the dance troop were killed while on route to a dance in Jalisco.  I came away with a sense of how busy their schedule was; the dance was a way of life.

The reader gets a very strong impression of how Catholic the dance was (and is) and many of the symbols used can be seen to have a Christian interpretation.  For example, at one point two men declared they were going to dance without their shirts and the leader was so outraged that they were to be disciplined. (Presumably because it violated church practice.)  Discipline consisted of a few lashes to the shoulder or back as well as things like being excluded.  However, as I read all  of this I obtained a strong impression that Catholicism was really a disguise to satisfy the authorities and at the same time allowing them to continue ancient beliefs. In short, it may well be pre-Hispanic.  Stone is quite convinced the dance is pre-conquest and does present suggestive evidence gathered from historical documents and from the creation of this oral history.  The senior members of the dance group are very able to talk about the origins of the dance and while some of these stories don’t hold up to examination others do leave you wondering.  In addition, most of the dancers she spoke to identified as Otomí.  She includes an intriguing story about a piece of paper.  For years she wondered what was in a small bundle often placed at the back of the altar.  Much later she shows a senior dancer a copy of a depiction of the dance from a book about the pre-conquest peoples.  Soon after this the same dancer takes her into a closed room and opens the small bundle in which was a similar depiction of the early dance. I wish she had explored this in more depth.

She traveled to many events, including:  October 15, in San Miguel de Allende, February 2 in San Juan de Los Lagos, Jalisco, during carnival in Amecameca, in Huejotzing, Puebla, Taxco, first Friday during Lent in Chalma, the fourth  Sunday in Acopilco, June 16 and December 16 in Tenancingo, September 18 in Los Remedios, December 12 at the Villa de Guadalupe, as well as Tlaltelolco and Ameyalco.  These being the main events which people who have made a “promesa” must attend. 

Also of interest in understanding the Choncheros is a piece by Gertrude Kurath from 1946 - "Los Concheros" in Journal of American Folklore 59, 1946:  387-399.  Kurath makes a few valuable observations:   1555 First Provincial Council meeting ruled that the natives should not be allowed to dance.   In 1585 ruled that they should not be allowed to wear headdresses.   Also in 16th century rules about teaching - it must in Spanish.  But in the rural areas the priest and others often ignored these rules.

Overall an enjoyable read with a much more wholistic view of the dance than you can obtain from other readings.  I have written several posts on the Conchero (or Aztec) dance which you might wish to check out as you will find photos there.   See the following:
Concheros dance

Or, Aztec dance

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

DANZAS AZTECAS

For the second time in three years we visited San Miguel de Allende for the dance of the conquest (el dia de conquista) which features about 200 hundred Aztec dancers and a few Matlachines. This is the only Aztec dance that I have actually seen (although a small group dances annually in Patzcuaro and I have seen 3-4 dancers in Cucucho. Historically earlier, and of more interest, are those dances depicting the conquest of the Aztecs by Cortez and the Spanish as well as a similar dances referred to as the Malinches or Matlachines performed as often in southwest USA as in Mexico, la danza de los Moros and Cristianos and la danza de la pluma. This group of dances depict combat and conquest and with role playing there is a great deal of room for symbolism and hidden messages. Max Harris provides some exceptional examples of acts of resistance in these dances and I will return to this in a subsequent post. However, more often the Aztecs, Matachines and Moros have been lifted from these combat dances and perform on their own at events honouring a patron saint or celebrations of conquest. These dances with only one side participating so to speak are referred to as “media conquista” (half conquest). One wonders how these groups became isolated from the larger dance and I at least speculate that the church had some influence on this as the full dances often carried an undertone of resistance to the conquest, even after 500 years. What has puzzled me in watching the “media conquista” dances is the celebration of Christian conquest of Mexico. But, if one sees this against the full dance, although seldom performed in most parts of the nation, there is the possibility that in the minds of the dancers they are presenting a tribal view of the world as well as the “hidden transcripts” which are implied by the full dance. The past rector of the Basilica de Guadalupe in Mexico City was born in Quiroga, Michoacan and for at least 5 years returned to participate in the dance of the Moors (the half dance) on the day of the town’s patron Saint. His account is of interest: he returned each year because he saw the dance as a way to bridge the conflict between the Indian part of the community and the mestizo part. This would seem to be an excellent occasion for the Indian community to show resistance but if there is any it is not apparent, perhaps drowned out by the shear number of participants or by respect for the rector. Also, one can imagine that it is the mestizo community that organizes events and occupies important positions.

Now, however, let’s turn briefly to the Aztecas. Harris distinguishes between Los Aztecas and Los Concheros along class lines - the Concheros typically being dancers of a lower class and putting the concha shell (actually in the form of a guitar made from the shell of an armadillo) more at the centre of the dance. Los Aztecs by contrast are more middle class and give no significance to the concha and place the drum at the centre of the dance. Los Aztecas can be found on almost any day in the Zocalo of Mexico City where drumming goes on for hours and people dance with or without costume. The costumes consist of men in loin cloths and vests and with enough feathers in their head gear to frighten birds for miles. All fabrics are embroidered with what one immediately imagines as Aztec designs. They wear small bells on their feet and to the deafening rhythm of the drums dance for hours at a time. Although billed as el dia de conquista, what is really going on here?

Max Harris provides some useful insights based on his observations of the dance in Mexico City.
“The danzas aztecas are self-conscious attempts, as many participants told me, to revive ‘the dances of our [Aztec] ancestors’. They are far from authentic. .. The urban mestizo’s ideas abut his Aztec ancestors are culled as much from popular films, posters, newspapers, and magazines - and from Hollywood representations of Native Americans - as they are from the ancient codices and subsequent scholarship. To put it unkindly, the danzas aztecas resemble a cross between a Plains Indians powwow and the gaudy fantasies of a Las Vegas costume designer. The performers are not living tradition bearers but escapees from the alienation of daily routine to a world of ‘invented ethnicity’”. (Carnival and other Christian Festivals. 2003: 54-55)


Unkind indeed, but Harris goes further. Commenting on the fact that the danzas aztecas take up much performance space and make a great deal of noise, they attract large audiences and drown out the indigenous dancers often present at public events. He says the following:
Urban Mexican contempt for the cultural products of unsophisticated rural Indians marginalized real Indians in the name of a romantic, middle-class vision of Mexico’s indigenous past. ... In the danzas aztecas, urban mestizos defiantly assert the value of a native heritage they despise in the flesh of their Indian neighbors. (2003:55)

This is rather blunt but after being a witness to a large scale dance, I believe there are elements of truth in his claims. Many of the dancers carry a very obvious urban “paunch” and one worries about their health during the vigorous dancing. Further, the smaller groups of dancers who look more “indian” are relegated to small corners of the pubic plaza.

Please see my post for February 2012 in which I re-describe the Aztec dance for an improved interpretation.  Click here for my most recent words on this.