Dancing for the dancers

Craig Smith |

5/15/2008 - 5/16/08

Most performances are done for the audience as much as for the artists — maybe even more so. Not New Mexico's first-ever gathering of Matachines dance groups. The public is welcome, but the event is really for those who re-create the venerable dance drama every time they perform it.

"Even though these dances are all over the Río Grande area and are performed by both Pueblo and Hispanic groups, [the dancers] almost never have a chance to see each other," said Claude Stephenson, New Mexico state folklorist. "They all dance on the same feast days, so they can't travel other places. They're used to dancing for people. When they dance, people show up, sometimes from all around the world. They're not used to dancing away from their homes. It's a cool thing. It's pretty amazing to me that it's actually happening."

The gathering, presented by New Mexico Arts, takes place on Friday and Saturday, May 16 and 17, in Albuquerque. Performances are on the National Hispanic Cultural Center's Plaza Mayor; workshops and panel discussions take place in the center's Wells Fargo Theater. Nine groups were confirmed at press time: New Mexico troupes from Cochití Pueblo, Alcalde, Picuris Pueblo, Bernalillo, Tijeras, Tortugas, and Jemez Pueblo; a Yaqui tribal troupe from southern Arizona; and a Tarahumara Indian group from northern Mexico.

The Matachines tradition dates back more than 300 years, but its precise origins have never been confirmed. There are theories that suggest roots in European medieval sacred dance and pre-Lenten carnival festivals from the Renaissance; Moorish influences are also cited. Prehistoric fertility rites have even been suggested as an antecedent. But some of the character names used today come from the period of Hernán Cortés and the conquest of Mexico.

Since the dances are always linked to a saint's feast day or universal church festivals, some scholars postulate a melding of Native American and Roman Catholic ritual. Most groups dance at Christmas; some also dance at Epiphany. All dance on Dec. 12, the feast of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.

"Nobody really knows where they came from," Stephenson said. "I don't know, and I've done a lot of research on it. I don't know how it happened." Contemporary records have not been much help. "For example, the Franciscans were meticulous record keepers [in colonial New Mexico]. In the Franciscan records I went to were things like, 'We let the Natives dance Matachines on Corpus Christi,' or 'We allowed the Natives to store the Matachines items in the church.' But nothing on the dances. They don't talk about its origins at all.

"Matachines is a dance drama of many parts. Depending on which community it is, you'll see different parts. Some do four or five parts. Some do up to 11 — I think the Yaqui do 11, but I'm not expert on their version." The choreography is precisely set, said Stephenson, "though it's like any folk tradition. It's always evolving.

"The name itself is conjectured a lot of ways. Fifty years ago, people conceived the word as Moorish or Arabic. That's disproven now. Some think it's Italianate Latin. A lot of newer scholars think it's a Nahuatl word that has been Hispanicized."

In general, Stephenson said, Matachines include two lines of danzantes (three lines in the Yaqui version) headed by a capitán; a frightening, whip-bearing old man called El Abuelo (sometimes the figure is female, La Abuela); El Monarca, the leader, who represents the Aztec king Montezuma; La Malinche, a girl or young woman (sometimes played by a boy) who is named after Cortés' mistress and interpreter; and in New Mexico, El Toro, the bull. All wear distinctive, usually colorful costumes, though La Malinche is dressed in white, emphasizing her purity.

The full dance presentation take from 45 minutes to an hour and 15 minutes, Stephenson said. The danzantes first make a ceremonial entrance, then dance "La Cruz," in which the performers' lines crisscross. The heart of the ritual, he added, is a trilogy: "La Malinche";
"La Batalla," or battle; and "El Monarca," involving the various characters. Another danzantes dance follows, then — in New Mexico — the killing and castration of El Toro. Tortugas, Taos, and Picuris Matachines end with a maypole ritual.

The music is passed down from generation to generation, and the instrumentation is simple: guitar and violin for Hispanic troupes and voice and drum for Native troupes.

The event is largely supported by an American Masterpieces grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. "They've been giving them [the grants] for the last several years," Stephenson explained. "The first year they were offering it to us, they were pushing visual artists. They wanted master artists, but they were envisioning more modern artists, for lack of a better term. Being a folklorist, I suggested they do folk artists [as well] and they went for it.

"This year, the priority was dance or choral groups. They suggested ballet, and I said, 'Well, it's not that big in New Mexico.' I told them about Matachines, and they were excited. We got $46,000 for this particular event.

"This is such a special event. It's unprecedented," Stephenson reiterated, "which brings me back to the impetus for doing it. I'm fascinated by these dances. I attend a lot of these. I've seen almost all these groups dance before. I'm watching the dancers in Tortugas, and I'll say, 'Hey, in Bernalillo, this happens here. In Alcalde, this happens.'

"This work is never filmed, so it's the first chance for them to see each other. That was my main impetus behind it. The audience coming to see it is an additional benefit for them."

details
¡Matachines!, a gathering of Matachines dance groups from
the Southwest & Mexico

11 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Friday & Saturday, May 16 & 17
National Hispanic Cultural Center, 1701 Fourth St. S.W., Albuquerque;
performances take place on the Plaza Mayor, workshops
& panel discussions take place in the Wells Fargo Theater

No charge; 827-6490 (New Mexico Arts) or 505-246-2261 (NHCC)