TOTONACAS | mysite

DANCING IN THE HEIGHTS

A TOTONACA STORY

This is the result of a profound encounter with the Totonaca Community, one of the sixty two indigenous groups in Mexico.

Through their dances, colorful rituals and music, they awakened in me the longing to enter into the mystery of their sacred ceremonies and traditions. Therefore this project became the way to tell their story, giving their voices a space to resonate and share their knowledge.

“I feel a huge pride because we have like 70 students and ten teachers. I have learnt a little and hope that the children can learn more, but only if God gives me enough life to continue, if not I will stay there.”

Cruz

“Your culture and language are the things that identify you as what you are, as a human being; something that makes you very valuable. What makes me proud about dancing is to put my culture in the highest place, my language, my state and more than anything my country, making it big, because there are many people who think that countries not as developed as Mexico are not worthy, in other words, they think they have no culture, however these are the countries that have more cultural diversity.”

Mario

“When one arrives to Tajín, you concentrate, you stand still there and it’s like all the bad things that you are carrying go away, it gives you strong energy, and when you go out from there you feel lighter.”
“If you have a problem that you can’t fix, you go to Tajín, you turn on a candle light and start to pray and all your problems get fixed.”

Inés

“Ever since I was little I wanted to learn. There was a group of dancers close to where I lived. I realized that I liked it, one would play the flute and other would stomp the floor. And I went there all by myself, alone. A friend invited me later on and I went… but I started with the negrito dance.”

Ricardo

“We are the light. The light never dies. When we are born there is the light. They baptize you and there is light. You get married and you have the light. You die and there is light. The light never dies, it’s life, our life. We are the light as the light is water. That is why fire is respected, fire is life, without light there is no life as without water there is no life.”

Esperanza

“To me the forest is sacred and dangerous, it must be respected because a forest has an owner, to us this is the Kiwi Qolo, the mountain God, the one that takes care for the mountain with his mate the Kiwi Cha. We believe that the trees and the hills have life and are Kiwi Qolo‘s home. It’s like entering any house; you ask permission before doing it.”

Cruz

“I want to teach all children, not only my sons and daughters. Mi idea is to be able to speak Totonaco with all my children, I don’t talk to them in Spanish, the same with the people who visit me at my home, I talk to them in Totonaco. For the one who doesn’t learn to speak Totonaco it becomes useless to know how to dance, if that person doesn’t speak Totonaco he is not a dancer to me.”

Cruz

Their captivating rituals are full of symbolism. In their dances the circle is a recurrent symbol, reminding us the perfection in cycles, the unity and the totality in life. In the Voladores ritual, the flying pole, represents the union between the sky and the earth; it is the link between the sacred world and the earthly realm. The sound of the flute combined with the drum and the smell of copal (a sacred incense) transport us into another dimension, where the magical and the mythical are the dominant structures of consciousness, where once a reverential relationship existed with the natural world as the realm of the gods.

“What I like the most about dancing is that I still feel that I can do it. I am 56 years old. I mean, when I feel I can’t do it anymore, I will leave it. I like to dance in other countries.”

Ricardo

Today, the Totonacas are fully awake to the valuable wisdom that has been transmitted from generation to generation through rituals and oral tradition. They want to share with us their unique view, their ancient ceremonies and their struggle to integrate the old with the new, keeping their traditions and their language alive.

“I like to get out of Mexico to dance so I can show other countries what I know and show them what I can do. I would like to tell people that being Totonaca, being a guagua dancer and a volador is something very valuable because the dance isn’t like a play, it’s a pre-Hispanic dance and has certain characteristics that cultivate it. You must have discipline and order. Also a lot of respect, we have to respect our Totonaca costumes because when you are dressed as Totonca, you feel really proud and happy.”

Marcelo

“The first time that I learnt to fly I felt I was the best of all because when we climbed for the first time no one wanted to climb and I was the first one to climb in a ten meter pole. They thought I wouldn’t throw myself because it was my first time and I was the first one, the same in the thirty meters pole, no one wanted to climb and again I was the first one. The first time it kind of feels a bit awful but it’s also beautiful, you fly for around five minutes.”

Octavio

“My intention is to disseminate the Totonaca culture, the very rich heritage that our ancestors left us. We will preserve and push forward this cultural richness because I believe that we must and have the right to know this culture, not only in Mexico but in other countries as well.”

Cruz

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