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Folkloric Tradition

(Traditions from Mexico and how they became present in the United States)

First, you have to understand that the origins of folkloric traditions stem from ancient people, the mezcla or mixing of the races by foreign peoples and their evolution of culture and traditions. At a time before borders existed, the Aztecs viewed all the land extending from Mexico north to present day US as Anahuac. Most mexican indigenous groups had names in their own dialects for the same concept. The culture and dance traditions of these indigenous groups were not formally "migrated" to the US. Rather, many indigenous groups already resided in what is now the US. Culture and traditions evolved and were shared by people as they travelled freely throughout the land without borders.

Over the years, many people who have live in the US for generations, such as the Yaqui indians in Guadalupe, Arizona, have performed their traditions and folklorico dances in the same geographical region for hundreds of years. In modern times, Folklorico has flourished as people who have been exposed to folklorico have relocated from Mexico to US cities and have shared the dances and knowledge from their home towns/pueblos. Keep in mind that in Mexico, it is generally mandatory that the students learn some baile folklorico while attending school. Learning the dances adds to national pride. Many students who excel at baile then participate as danzantes for local functions and may later travel into the US as instructors.

In present times, many of the folklorico traditions have been passed onto folklorico practitioners by groups such as El Asociacion Internacional de Grupos Folkloricos and Danzantes Unidos. These groups and groups like them hold conferencias (conferences) where folkloristas and maestros who learned the danzas (dances) from indigenous people or other folkloristas/maestros continue to share folkorico knowledge to others. At local levels, many dance groups hold their own workshops and seminars to share traditional folkloric dances, known by practitioners as bailes folkloricos, to others. When I first became involved in baile folkorico, over 35 years ago, there were no university degrees in folklorico. Everything was taught by oral tradition. Now, many mexican universities offer such degrees.

The most significant developments in the modern folklorico movement came as the result of two efforts in Mexico. Amalia Hernandez is widely recognized as the premiere founder of the baile folklorico (Mexican Folk Dance) that we recognize today. She combined indigenous traditional dance with modern dance and classical ballet for presentation as a performing art. She stylized traditional wear to make it more appealling for dance performances. While many of the costumes in use today are exagerations of what traditional garb indigenous or local people actually wear, they serve the purpose of accentuating dance movement and heighten entertainment value.

Her efforts in presenting folkorico dance to the general public are lauded as being one of the founding moments of the present folklorico movement. Her dance group, El Ballet Folklorico de Amalia Hernandez continues to please audiences in Mexico City and internationally - to this day.

Equally important are the efforts of two men, Emilio Pulido and Rafael Zamauripa. Their joint efforts created one of the first fine arts institutions affiliated with a major university in Mexico. They extensively researched oral and indigenous traditions and endeavored to maintain the authenticy of the traditional dance without the flair of classical ballet dance which A. Hernandez had fame. Not only did they teach at the university, they also travelled and participated as maestros in countless folklorico conferencias and tallers (workshops) throughout the US. I was a student of theirs.

According to an interview by Prof. Rafael Zammauripa, keep in mind that to be considered folklorico, the dance must stem from a dance tradition and/or ceremony having been in existence for a minimum of 50 years. Once the dance is performed for the purpose of entertainment, as in for a designated audience rather than for ceremony, it loses it ceremonial emphasis and transmutes into a performing art.

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