Día de las muertas

Description

Exploring the merging of Mexican Ballet Folklorico and Contemporary U.S. Dance in Denton, Texas, this trio follows and honors the lives of only 3 of the many Mexican women who were victims of femicides in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

Inspiration For This Piece

   Mexico is my home; A place of culture and vibrance that I am happy to call a part of me. However, I am a woman and Mexico has not exactly been fair even to those women who have had their lives taken away too early. Feminicidios are the murdering of women because of the hatred towards them. When a feminicidio happens in Mexico, it is supposed to be taken more seriously than just a homicide. The sentences and charges are graver. In my state home of Tamaulipas, alone, in the span of 4 years, there have been 441 violent deaths. Out of these, however, only three were declared as a feminicidio. The injustice happening here for many years against women is as severe as it sounds: 3 out of 441. This is why I have joined the activists of Mexico and decided to make a piece speaking on this. My piece is about speaking up for those who lost their voices. Specifically, the 441 women who’s femicides were dully clamed as homicides. 

Meet The Dancers

Music

The sound score for this piece was edited by Ilse Mayté.

Costumes

Skirts

From day one, I knew I wanted my dancers to wear the folklorico skirts. I chose the color after I discovered that violet was being used in the marches happening in Mexico against feminicidios. Violet is the color of women activism or the fight for women’s rights.

Nude Tops and Bottoms

Originally, the dancers were supposed to wear black leotards under the skirts and dance the second half of the piece in the black leotards. However, the leotards could be sexualized in a bad way once the skirt came off on stage and I was not fond to this idea since this was not the message I wanted to convey.

Instead, I decided — and with their permission — the dancers would be nude in the second half of the piece in order to convey their female bodies stripped down from expectations. This costume change also depicted the women passing from life to death.

Accessories

The dancers wore the typical accessories for a Huapango Tamaulipeco. This included a fake braid attached to a hair bun and white flowers placed next to their bun. They also wore white folklorico shoes which is also typically worn in this dance.