Mexican Folkloric Dances

The moment the dancers appeared on stage, even before a single harp note of “La Bamba” had been sounded, my wife, Maria, and her parents knew what they were about to see. With the female performers dressed in long flowing white lace dresses and black aprons with red trim, wearing dangling red necklaces while holding elaborate fans and with their hair adorned with red carnations as the male dancers wore the traditional white guayaberas/shirts, white pants, and red panuelos/handkerchiefs around their necks, they realized that they were about to witness, as they had numerous times before, a performance of the Caribbean-influenced dance most associated with the state of Veracruz. For the next three hours we and a standing room only crowd of spectators at Guadalajara’s Plaza de Armas were about to be entertained by a local university group as they performed a vast and varied selection of bailes regionales/Mexican folkloric dances.

Influenced by its rich, complicated, and diverse history including the Mesoamerican period, the Spanish Colonial era, its War of Independence, and the Mexican Revolution, Mexican folkloric dances are performed throughout all of the country’s states and regions. Illustrative of not only Mexico’s indigenous and Spanish heritage but also a fusion of African, French, German, Irish, Italian and other cultures that have impacted the country, these folk dances along with the accompanying music are creative expressions of Mexico’s ancient and more contemporaneous past. Consequently, the polka, the waltz, the shottishe, and the flamenco are examples of "imported" dances that have been incorporated into these performances along with more traditionally local ones. Each state, as well as particular geographic and cultural regions, are represented by their dances and folkloric styles. Along with the dances that have become synonymous with these geographic/cultural areas, the performances reflect their patterns of daily life, costuming/typical apparel (including hats and footwear- or in the case of indigenous- themed dances, bare feet), music and instruments, and hairstyles.

Many generations of Mexicans have been trained to perform these folk dances by joining either community, university, or professional performance groups. All of these formal folkloric dancing instructional sites are headed by either a maestro/maestra or director who must undergo intensive training and who must receive certification to teach these dances. Since the 1950's, the most famous and respected place for the instruction and performing of bailes regionales is El Ballet Folklorico de Mexico located in Mexico City.

In a less formal setting, as a youth my mother-in-law in her small village located in the highlands of Michoacan was trained in folk dancing and performed in local festivals/celebrations. She made her own costumes, one of which was a china poblana outfit that consisted of a guanengo/peasant blouse and a falda/skirt utilizing thousands of colorful sequines in the embroidering and creating of an eagle and other elaborate designs. Whereas, when my wife moved to San Jose, California with her family at the age of twelve, she was taught the dances at her junior high school.

Each state or region has one or more folk dance for which they are famous for. Too many to cover in a short article, I will describe just a few. From Mexico’s Northwest region there is the Sonora Bronco style of dance which features high kicks, quick turns, and many jumps as the performers mimic a cowboy’s handling of horses and cattle. Also from that region, is The Dance of the Deer which portrays the indigenous Yaquis in dance as they stylistically emulate the movements of the deer and the hunter during a hunt.

From the Central Pacific region state of Nayarit is the Moorish influenced The Dance of the Machetes where the female performers dance under an arch of clanging and sometimes sparking machetes demonstratively brandished by the male performers. Nearby Michoacan is typically represented by the satirical Dance of the Old Men which mocks the Spanish colonial elite as many of them aged before their time as they had a difficult time adjusting to life in the Purhepecha Plateau. Then, of course, from the state of Jalisco is arguably the most famous and recognizable of the folk dances, with the men decked out in their flamboyant charro suits and the women wearing elaborately sequined china poblana dresses typically with brightly colored rebozos wrapped around their waists is the energetic and flirtatious courtship dance, the Jarabe Tapatio/the Mexican Hat Dance. Representing the sultry and tropical South Pacific state of Guerrero is the fittingly entitled The Dance of the Iguana.

I have seen and enjoyed many performances of bailes regionales both in Mexico and when I was living in San Jose. If you have not experienced one yourself, perhaps, depending upon where you live, you could go to see one of these colorful dance/musical performances that so entertainingly and creatively depict the state and regional customs and traditions of Mexico. Alas, lacking access to live performances, there is always You Tube which provides a plethora of Mexican folk dance videos!