Mexican Indian Traditions

Various Artists

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

101	Danza de pascola: Canción de la pubertad	Adolfo Burgos Feliix, Francisco Barnett Astorga	0:59
102	Danza de pascola: Canción de fiesta	Adolfo Burgos Feliix, Francisco Barnett Astorga	0:53
103	Danza de pascola: Canto de pascola	Adolfo Burgos Feliix, Francisco Barnett Astorga	0:40
104	Danza de pascola: Canto del cantador	Adolfo Burgos Feliix, Francisco Barnett Astorga	1:03
105	Danza del venado: El caballo blanco	Tomas Anguamea Alamea, Santos Anguamea Jaimea, Silvestre Millanes Alamea, Luciano Anguamea Garcia	3:15
106	Danza del venado: Tomberino	Tomas Anguamea Alamea, Santos Anguamea Jaimea, Silvestre Millanes Alamea, Luciano Anguamea Garcia	4:48
107	Danza del arralan: La Susana	Ascencion de la Cruz Morales, Carmelo Ramirez Solis	3:05
108	Danza del arralan: El "Jic-pac"	Ascencion de la Cruz Morales, Carmelo Ramirez Solis	5:37
109	Danza del arralan: Danza del toro	Ascencion de la Cruz Morales, Carmelo Ramirez Solis	10:50
110	Danza de la pluma: Canto Heráldico	Laurencio Garcia Garcia, Abel Garcia, Prisciliano Garcia, Genaro Aquino, Fernando Martinez Bautista, Rodolfo Garcia Gutierrez, Rufino Rodriguez Gutier	2:12
111	Danza de la pluma: Registro	Laurencio Garcia Garcia, Abel Garcia, Prisciliano Garcia, Genaro Aquino, Fernando Martinez Bautista, Rodolfo Garcia Gutierrez, Rufino Rodriguez Gutier	2:23
112	Danza de la pluma: Espacio	Laurencio Garcia Garcia, Abel Garcia, Prisciliano Garcia, Genaro Aquino, Fernando Martinez Bautista, Rodolfo Garcia Gutierrez, Rufino Rodriguez Gutier	7:54
113	Danza de la pluma: Flor de Tule	Laurencio Garcia Garcia, Abel Garcia, Prisciliano Garcia, Genaro Aquino, Fernando Martinez Bautista, Rodolfo Garcia Gutierrez, Rufino Rodriguez Gutier	4:58
114	Danza de los Quetzales: Son de la Mariposa	Miguel Garcia Santes	1:55
115	Danza de los Quetzales: Son de la Calandria	Miguel Garcia Santes	2:25
116	Danza de los Negritos: Son de la Media Bamba	Juan Martinez Juarez	3:30
117	Danza de los Negritos: Son de la primavera	Juan Martinez Juarez	4:10
118	Danza de Moros y Cristianos: Son Cruzado	Alberto Garcia de Leon, Juan Isauro Olmos Garcia, Fernando Mendez Cortez	3:39
119	Danza de Moros y Cristianos: Son de Golpe	Alberto Garcia de Leon, Juan Isauro Olmos Garcia, Fernando Mendez Cortez	4:27