Dance is a form of expression. It is a set of moves that are relative to the rhythms and beats that an individual or a group listen to. Dance is widespread all-around the world and has been around for years on end. As defined in Webster’s dictionary, dance is the movement of one’s body to the rhythm of the music. It is usually done to express ideas, thoughts, or release emotion. Or it is simply done to enjoy the movement. Dance influences culture. The impacts dance has does not necessarily have to be noticeable in order to understand that it does. Dance is the expression of movement. It can depict a story with a set of simple moves. It can display emotion, capture history, and enhance motion altogether. It is something that it so simple, yet so intricate and complex. Different cultures around the world use dance as a way to talk and celebrate their history without having to speak. Stemming from this notion, why not research those who came before us. Las Mascaritas is a dance specific to the Amuzgo people. It is known that this dance originated in the Mixtec region of the coast as a result of the French invasion of Mexico in the 19th century. Las Mascaritas is practiced in several towns of the region.
Who are the Amuzgo
The Amuzgo people are an indigenous group who live near the Pacific Ocean. The main settlements reside along the Guerrero/Oaxaca border of southwest Mexico. They are an ethnolinguistic Indian group primarily located in Eastern Guerrero and Western Oaxaca states, southern Mexico. Their language is related to that of Mixtec, their neighbors. Many however, speak Spanish and approximately 65 percent speak only Amuzgo. The settlements in the Guerrero state region are the municipios of Xochistlahuaca, Tlacoachistlahuaca, and Ometepec. Concrete information on the history of the Amuzgo is scarce, however, some data has be reconstructed through various reliable sources. According to the Mixtec codices, Mixtec King Eight Deer was declared a Mixtec ruler at a ceremony in Jicayan in A.D. 1000. In the latter half of the fifteenth century, the western region of the Amuzgo area, which resided in the state of Guerrero, housed the populations of Xochistlahuaca and Ayotzinapa. This region along with another controlled area were facing Aztec domination.
Las Mascaritas
Las Mascaritas is a dance specific to the Amuzgo people. It is known that this dance originated in the Mixtec region of the coast as a result of the French invasion of Mexico in the 19th century. Las Mascaritas is practiced in several towns of the region. The invasion occurred in January of 1862. The French, British, and the Spanish invaded Mexico to force them to pay the debts that the Mexican President postponed for two years because of the lack of funding.
The locals say that on the occasion of the French invasion of Mexico in the 19th century, some indigenous groups fled to the mountains and occasionally descended to the towns, first with the objective of exploring and spying, later out of mere curiosity. The French interpreted their dances and were observed by the locals. They say that each night the number of onlookers increased, and they watched the European sainetes with a mixture of amazement, hatred and admiration.
When the French withdrew, the Mixtecs left their hiding places. To celebrate the release, they met in their own way with a grotesque imitation of French dances, deliberately exaggerated and ridiculed. Thus they showed their resentment, a feeling that led them to repeat that parody in each party, until the custom made it a regional tradition.
With the natural disposition to the satire and the characteristics of the native, the ridicule with the attire was complemented, mixing his inclination for the bright colors and for the tinsel, with the ostentatious arrogance of the uniform of the French suavos, obtaining a variegated set. To complement the parody and as a refined touch, they designed to put on their faces a white handkerchief in which they painted the fine features of the Europeans, simulating with the white color of the handkerchief the pale color of the invaders' complexion, in contrast to the tone brown of the hands that they left uncovered. Later the handkerchiefs were replaced by the wooden mascaritas that gave name to the dance.
The music of the dance is integrated by a military march, which is played at the beginning and end of the performance, and by seven sones: the Molinetes, the Callejones, the Granada, the Pavilions, the Chain, the Snail and the Snake. The rhythm of the music has a marked air of French influence but indigenous flavor, extremely cheerful, moved and original, without repeating the melodies once
The dance is performed exclusively by men. The costumes of the male characters consist of a white trousers gathered with ribbons on the ankles, entangled in a corkscrew shape up to the knees, imitating a gaiter. The shirt is a fiery color, with the usual cut of the natives. On the pants, they have a rectangular canvas with no cut or seam that is fastened to the waist with a fajero. Said canvas is generally red and is an imitation of the Suavo suit. They wear shoes with huaraches and on their shoulders wear a layer of bright embroidered cloth and adorned with beads, which is held with ribbons of crossed colors on the chest. They wear a round top hat and small wings crowned by a multicolored paper plume. Covering the face and under the hat, goes the white handkerchief painted with the European features or the carved mask.
The dress of the female characters is simpler, consists of a wide skirt with frills, a blouse of the same type and on the sides two bullions of bright red fabric that ridicules the French female suit. They also wear a straw hat and a white scarf that covers their faces (or mask), but the features they have painted are more delicate, with curly eyelashes, veneers and lips painted in the shape of a heart. They wear sandals and wear colored stockings. Occasionally they use braids on their shoulders.
Generally seven "couples" interpret the dance, one of them leads the dance and is different from the others by some details: the man wears a sack and a machete and the woman wears a rebozo. During the development of the dance, the main couple executes their movements around the others. Usually this dance is performed at the Carnival festivities, in February or March, and at the traditional and patron saint festivities of Santa María Huazolotitlán. In the towns of the region it is known by different names: "Dance of the Quijada" in San Juan Colorado, "Dance of the catrinas mascaritas" in Pinotepa de Don Luis, "Dance of the plumudos" in Huazolotitlán and "Dance of the mascaritas ycollantes "in Jamiltepec.