Mon. 1/16, 7p:Oral history through "testimonio" is at the heart of the community collective project, Humans of New Mexico/Humanos de New Mexico. We´ll listen to the Zamora family story which includes: Crystal, David and Paz, who share their different experiences of growing up in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Paz (father) talks about learning Danza Azteca from a trip in his youth to Mexico City and bringing it to Albuquerque:
“I've been doing Danza for 40 years. As a young man I was a Chicano activist and then a member of the American Indian Movement and that's why I ended up going down to Mexico and ultimately getting in touch with Danza and becoming a Danzante. I'm the leader of the group [Kalpulli Ehekatl/Ehekatl Aztec Dancers].”
David speaks to the social responsibility of educating people on the cultural sensitivity when encountering Danza Azteca:
“Everybody calls them a costume. ‘Oh that's such a pretty costume can I borrow it for Halloween?’ Instead of getting offended we just let them know, this isn't exactly our costume, it's our regalia to show that our culture's alive, thriving, continuing, changing, it's not stagnant.”
With the goal of gathering the diversity of New Mexican cultural traditions, the project Humans of New Mexico focuses on oral history -recorded and archived for future generations- prioritizing oral and language traditions. This show was co-hosted by Rafael Martínez and Moisés Santos; production and edition by Froilan Orozco, Moisés Santos with Cristina Baccin, Espejos de Aztlán Coordinator, along with recording, edition and transcription of the interviews by the Humans of New Mexico collective.
