Aztec Dance - from "The Eagle's Children"

-http://www.docfilm.com - clip from "The Eagle's Children" (39 min) - the ancient Danza Azteca or Concheros tradition and its spread among Chicanos in the US

"One day we shall rise reunited,
Gaining strength from the New Sun
To fulfill our destiny."

- Cuauhtemoc, last Aztec ruler

"La Danza de la Conquista del Gran Tenochtitlan", also known as "Los Concheros", "Danza Azteca", & "Danza Chichimeca", traces its origins to pre-Columbian Nahua ("Aztec") roots. Its adherents are organized into dance groups, each led by a "Capitan de Danza", who obeys one of the "Generales" who head distinct lineages and claim to pass traditional lore down from before the Spanish invasion of Mexico. The "Danzantes" must take part in a complex series of "obligaciones" throughout the year. At the great annual pilgrimage to the shrine of Chalma, thousands of "Danzantes" from Mexico and the US gather for four days of ritual and dance.

Since the 1960's, Mexican dance teachers like Florencio Yescas and Andres Segura have brought the "Danza" to the US. The Eagle's Children follows Mexican-American "Danzantes" to Chalma, Central Texas, and San Diego, as they rediscover their indigenous heritage.

"The Eagle's Children is a valuable document of the Conchero tradition and its journey to Aztlan; a glimpse into the ancient soul of Mesoamerica and a tribute to the power of ritual dance."

Enrique LaMadrid
Chicano/Hispano/Mexicano Studies
University of New Mexico

"The Eagle's Children is a tremendously sensitive film addressing very important issues about dance in general. The film highlights most of the issues about the inner meaning of dance to self and community, from the symbolic and social, to the personal and experiential."

Allegra Fuller Snyder
Department of Dance
University of California at Los Angeles

Ethnoscope Film & Video

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Danza
• Concheros
• Chicanos
• Mexico
• Chalma
• Aztec
• Chichimec
• Chichimeca
• Azteca
• Chicano

[dcgamer]

& let's put an end to the rules of colonialism such as "the 1-drop of spanish blood negates indigenous identity", long live our indigenous heritage & identity, "the cofee never turned white no matter how much milk went in"

[HUITZILICUICATL]

Pacal43 said: "Long live the mestizaje."

So what you're saying is "long live the rape of our grandmothers by Spanish soldiers, the forced Baptisms, et cetera"?

[ADRIANR2D]

our indigenous culture.

[Pacal43]

long live the indigenous, the mixed and even the creoles. Long live the mestizaje.

[HAVOLOK]

the zapotek ladie is full of knowledge

[creek213]

Keep our traditions and culture alive... Thanks for passing down the knowledge...Cuahutemoc lives!!

[HAVOLOK]

"THE EAGLES CHILDREN FROM THE NEW RISING SUN" words from ometeo

[iconoclast616]

On Dec. 21 2012: Europeans in America are going to become extinct. The children of the first Americans will rite up and reclaim their land. Those murdered by the invaders will rise up and America will become a native paradise.

[lamalinalli82]

Me gustaria aprender dialecto, i know people from MALINALCO that have AZTEC LAST NAMES

[mrsparkle001]

I just hope it comes without the human bloodshed and awful religious rites like the Xipe Toltec ritual which is off-the-scale horrendous. But yes I do hope for you.