After a spectacular week of Semana Santa celebrations in Teotitlan del Valle, the village gathers for yet another tribute. Dance of the Little Old Men, or Baile de Viejitos, begins on the Monday after Easter Sunday and goes for five continuous days. It is an ancient pre-Hispanic Zapotec ritual centered around the way the community is organized and how well the voluntary leaders mete out justice and fairness. The village leaders are assessed by each one of the five administrative sections of the village through an intricate process of information gathering, question asking, and feedback.
Each section has an opportunity to give feedback to the leaders through the men selected by each section to speak for them. The men are dressed in disguise as elders, wise, strong, able to take a stand and tell the truth. It is a power-leveling mechanism that is designed to humble the arrogant.
Some call it Carnivale, like the pre-Lenten celebration, because there are masquerades and cross-dressing. To the uninitiated, it looks like a springtime version of Halloween with costumed, dancing young boys. They join the official masquers who accompany the Old Men as they act out their message through the dance and the tribute they pay to the leaders. It is ceremonial and formal.
And, it is fun. There is excitement in the air. The village gathers on stone steps that were once the foundation of a Zapotec temple. The Municipio Building is ringed with folding chairs and behind them, vendors selling fresh-made fruit-flavored ices, cones stuffed with cream, do-nuts, and other sweets. Another vendor sells steaming tamales seasoned with chipil. Parents buy bags of 5 peso popcorn for children to munch on.
The dance starts at 6 p.m. and goes well into the night. All the leaders, starting with the president, dance in succession with the Viejitos representing the section. The section representatives sit solemnly after they have presented their tribute — cartons of beer and mezcal. Each section takes their turn — one section for each night.
International Priests Visit Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
The firecrackers call in early afternoon to announce that something spectacular was about to happen in the village later that day. It’s filled with surprises here. My neighbor Ernestina comes over in the morning to offer me 20 fresh, creamy chicken and mole amarillo tamales for 100 pesos.
Then, later tamales are served for lunch at the guest house where the felt fashion workshop participants assemble. It is not yet Dia de la Candelaria, when everyone eats tamales. What is going on? I wonder.
At six-thirty, the young men atop the bell tower ring the church bells. Rosario and Josefina say goodbye. Where are you going? A la iglesia. To the church, they say. There’s a fiesta to welcome 30 visiting priests from Columbia, China, Nueva York (New York), California and India. I follow the sound of the bells to the church courtyard.
Nearly the entire village gathers. I arrive just in time to be offered a fresh, steaming hot tamale, to see the children dressed in Dance of the Feather plumage dancing the re-enactment of the conquest, to hear the band play, and to see banquet tables filled with men who sip hot chocolate and eat tamales, served by traditionally dressed village women.
I hear that more than a thousand tamales are made that day by the women chosen to the traditional, pre-Hispance Jarabe del Valle dance. They are part of the church committee that supports the village festivals.
A master’s of ceremonies talks about cultural exchange, the many Zapotecs from this village who live and work and practice their traditions in towns throughout southern California, and how these priests help people to adapt, acclimate and stay connected to their roots. The Spanish is sprinkled with a little English to make the visitors more welcome.
Then, the women, holding branches of fragrant herbs welcome the guests to join them for the Jarabe del Valle. The men, towering above them, move their feet to the rhythm of the dance and catch on quickly.
The band played on.
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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Teotitlan del Valle, Travel & Tourism
Tagged fiestas, Mexico, Oaxaca, tamales, Teotitlan del Valle