In
the age of social media, culture can often be reduced to a glance or
gesture to attract maximum, momentary impact. it is certainly not the
optimal platform to share a Mexican danza, especially as practiced by
young students. Danzas are reverential, lengthy rituals practiced
traditionally throughout Mexico. They are aimed at honoring a greater
power, not the ego of the individual. Their intention is humility,
participation and reverence, not performance or competition.
In
2002, master folk artist Julian Gonzalez Saldaña, from Jalisco, Mexico,
taught our student dancers and musicians the many movements of Danza
de los Copetones in its entirety. He oversaw the creation of the
costumes for which each dancer decorated their own copete, or headpiece,
for which he cut bamboo that he found at the entrances of local
freeways. Our teachers Marie-Astrid Do-Rodriguez, Lucina Rodriguez, and
Tregar Otton taught our students to express the meaning and nuances of
the costumes, dance and music. And we presented the danza to initiate
one of our annual festivals at the San Pablo Civic Center.
This video is unlikely to be viewed in its entirety, given its length, repetition, and imperfections.
And that is ok. This was not it’s intention. Rather, we hope that
people might scan through the video and consider the deeper intention of
this collective effort and the earnest, dedicated student attention
required for its preparation, rehearsal and presentation.
Our
recreation of Danza de los Copetones was not about attracting attention
to the individuals involved. It was about honoring our collective
spirit with humility - something that many of us are trying to practice
today in the era of Covid-19. For that reason, I decided to finally edit
this footage in full and share it. 18 years later. To remind ourselves
that the power of cultural art, like the power of nature itself, is much greater than any one of us. And that only our collective spirit can light our path forward.
