Oaxaca-The Year After: Jarabe Mixteco

The here and now... and what and why

Complacency is a trap. At least that’s what I was thinking when I up and left the comfort of a Yankee prep school gig, where I taught music, amongst other things, for 28 years. There was also that life long career as a composer, musician and artist.

First, it was a year in St. Thomas, USVI, working as a reporter and shooting photography and then, a year in San Agustin Etla, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Time passed.
More time passed and a year back in the Athens of America followed by a hasty return to Oaxaca where it is all happening.
A couple of years in San Sebastian Etla and now, just down the road in San Pablo Etla. Life is good.

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For additional photography please visit my flickr page.
You can find my music on Jango (World & latin - Worldbeat) and at iTunes and most online stores.
¡Soy consciente de todas las tradiciones del Internet!
If you are coming to Oaxaca, please contact me for tours or advice.

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Jarabe Mixteco - Etla Guelaguetza

The dances of the guelaguetza are regional traditional dances and most have been performed for many, many years by many, many people. They are learned in schools, in village and there are hundreds of grupos fockloricos that perform them regularly. Lots of them are pretty much in a form fixe, with very little variation. So it is fun to see how different groups or, in the case of the jarabe mexteco, how different couples perform the steps. These two brought the house down in Etla last Monday.