Jimena’s sister-in-law is a professional dancer. For many years, she danced in the Ballet folklorico de Mexico, a famous dance troupe that re-enacts folkloristic dances and themes and brings them to the stage of the Bellas Artes Theatre.
She has left the troupe now, but her connections still got us some great seats, at an amazing 80% discount!
So Jimena and I enjoyed a tour-de-force of folkloristic Mexican dances last night.
Traditional Mexican music played by a dozen musicians, drummers, dancers presenting traditional dances from various regions of Mexico and reflecting traditions of indigenous Mesoamerican culture…
It all blended together to quite a visual and musical fiesta. It might be a bit touristy, and I am sure a big part of the audience were, in fact, tourists like me. But it is definitely fun and great entertainment.
We saw the Matachines, a religious dance from the north of Mexico City; we saw a dance celebrating the 1910 revolution and women’s role in the fighting; the Charrería, celebrating sports; the Mojigangas, huge figures used in a dance in Tlacotalpan; a dance from Puebla based on the Queztal legend; a deer dance, as well as various dances from the Jalisco region.
The ensemble was founded in 1952 by Amalia Hernández, it quickly grew from eight performers to a fifty piece ensemble. They play the Bellas Artes three times a week, but have also toured extensively in the US and around the world.