First off, yesterday was the Bicentenario of this beautiful country, meaning Wednesday night was craaaazy good times- the streets were filled with thousands of Tapatios in Red, White, and Green, fireworks, music, and lots of street food. My first Mexican holiday in Mexico. Woot!
That day began with a friend of mine telling me he had a 2 day surprise for me that I would LOVE... Hmmmm, didn't think anyone here knew me well enough to make that kind of statement. BUT, he was right. My favorite Son Jarocho group from Veracruz (and good friends of his) were in town. Soooo... after seeing them in the center of the city, and stopping by the rooftop BBQ celebration at my apartment (yeah... kinda missed our own party. whoooops), it was off to a Fandango with locals and Veracruzanos alike.
The next day included free tickets to their show at Teatro Degallado in the city center, amazing Argentinian Sandwiches, and yet another Fandango!
The show itself was rad- it included the guys from Veracruz (Son De Madera), a group/dancers from Michoacan, and another from San Luis Potosi. All different parts of Mexico, but came together in what is called Sones Compartidos. Although los Veracruznos were the best (duuuh), it was still really interesting to see/hear all three styles side by side. Now, I am still in the baby step stages of learning about Mexican music in general. So, being able to compare all three at once was pretty rad. The Fandangos had a similar thing going for them... While there was a lot of Son Jarocho played, sones from different regions, including Jalisco, were also played. So, I got to not only hear the difference, but also see and dance the different zapateado rhythms from region to region.
From this, I met some great tapatios who get together every Friday to dance, sing, play sones tradicionales from all around Mexico. Naturally, I was invited to join. it was a great time with these folks. We focused on sones and rhythms of Jalisco, which was great and new for me.
I have spent a pretty good amount of time tracking down traditional dances of this region. While i have come across some folklorico classes, etc... I really wanted to begin with raw, authentic zapateado of Jalisco, without the glam of folklorico. And, heck yes, I found it. In the middle of the park, with one board, six musicos, and about 7 dancers... it felt more real than anything else I've done here. Amazing, I must say.
Immediately followed by a free concert in a casa cultural with the artistic-alt crowd of Guadalajara... just goes to show the funky diversity of this city.
wow... it just might be growing on me.
