The music on this album was recorded live during performances by seven indigenous Mexican groups at the Avignon Festival (France) in the summer of 1992. On the occasion of the 500th Anniversary Commemoration of the Encounter between Two Worlds, the festival brought together, for the first time in Europe, approximately a hundred musicians and dancers from the Totonac, Zapotec, Serio, Mayo, and Tepehuan Indian communities of Mexico.

The liner notes, in English, Spanish, and French, provide rich background on the ethnic groups and their traditions. “The Dance of the Quetzals” (Totonac), for example, has a “genuinely indigenous history”: according to legend, a bird with magnificent plumage that lived long ago in the Totonacapan region became extinct, and the dance begged the forces of nature to bring the bird back to life. Other pieces reflect the arrival of the Spaniards; “The Feather Dance” (Zapotec), created in the 1800s, even includes dialogues between Aztec warriors and conquistadors.

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This album is part of the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music. More than 125 albums are being released by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings to make the series publicly available, including a dozen never-released albums of musical traditions from around the globe.

Track Listing