Oaxaca-The Year After: It's beginning to look like... Muerteadas!

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.

Click on an image to see it larger.
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, October 24, 2019

It's beginning to look like... Muerteadas!

It seems like there are more muerteadas each year as villages get into the action and excitement. What's a muerteada? It's an all night dance party that's an extension of the various celebrations surrounding El Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead.

The costumes, the infectious driving music, the going from house to house, it's blast. On the north side of the city, in the many Etlas, muerteadas are the thing. And each village paints a mural to advertise the event. Here, a beautiful image from the one for Santiago Etla.

I try to go to San Agustin Etla every year, where two neighborhoods, San Jose and El Panteon, come together after twelve hours of dancing at the base of the mountains and yell and scream at each other, but all in good fun... I think... maybe not.
Each thinks they are the best and the originals. San Jose, la cuna, the birthplace.