While the intriguing history of the Mexica people, founders of the mighty Aztec Empire, has been related in hundreds of history books and Internet websites, dry readings on the tribe’s mysterious origins don’t compare with “Chicomoztoc: The Untold Legend,” a dazzling dance spectacle produced by gifted lakeside choreographer Luis Guzmán.
The extraordinary program brought to the stage by the San Juan Cosalá’s Ballet Folclórico Son de México delighted an appreciative audience with the local debut presented last November. Guzmán has fine-tuned the piece for repeat performances scheduled for three consecutive Sundays this month at the Auditorio de la Ribera in La Floresta.
Creative genius
San Juan homeboy Guzmán was born with an innate talent for the performing arts. “As a youngster I was always the first kid to raise his hand for roles in schools festivals,” he recalls. He developed a passion for Mexican folk dancing in his teens, first training in the early 1990’s with the Real Ballet Charro headquartered at the Ajijic auditorium.
A couple of years later, while studying for a degree in graphic design, he was recruited to join the University of Guadalajara’s prestigious Ballet Folclórico company. “The dancers were very competitive in going after lead roles, but I enjoyed the experience and learned a lot,” Guzmán says.
He left the group to take up a job offer in Puerto Vallarta. During his three-year stint there, he landed a side gig as a dancer in a pre-Hispanic show run as a tourist attraction at Isla Las Caletas, former home of the famed film director John Huston.
When he returned to lakeside, Guzmán picked up employment with Jocotepec’s municipal government. He attempted to form a folk dance group there, but couldn’t muster enough interest from the locals to make it fly. To his surprise, the idea gained appeal among the people in his hometown.
“My expectations were low. San Juan is a village with little cultural development,” he observes.
He started out with a show put together for the Day of the Dead. It was a big hit. With a core group of six women who were determined to keep going, Guzmán launched Ballet Son de México. The group has grown into a tight-knit corps of more than 20 male and female dancers recognized for their flawless footwork and effervescent showmanship. More recently he put together a children’s folk dance group with an enrollment of 20 young pupils.
Over the years Guzmán has polished his own skills as the group’s artistic director. Through close connections with Jalisco’s Ministry of Culture (SCJ), he has been trained in various dance genres, as well as lighting and staging techniques, contributing to the evolution of Son de México’s distinctive style.
He has a knack for incorporating fresh concepts that make his company stand out among run-of-the-mill dance troupes. “I have been criticized by people who believe that folklórico programs should rigidly adhere to traditional forms,” he notes. “But I love what we do. It’s a different approach and there’s definitely a public that appreciates the originality of our performances.”
Ancient legend
The Chicomoztoc program emerged from Guzmán’s conversations with Jocotepec historian Manuel Flores about the Mexica’s mystical vision of an eagle perched on a nopal cactus devouring a serpent, the inspiration for a long southward migration from their Aztlán homeland to the Valley of Mexico where they founded Tenochitlán, the splendid Aztec capital city.
In the course of their wanderings, the Indians settled for a time in Chicomoztoc, the place of the seven caves or seven tribes. Flores suggests that this spot of natural abundance and rich gold deposits was the Ribera de Chapala.
As he told the story, Guzmán began to visualize staging the legend in dance. Early last year he began designing the program as a long-term project. He put it on fast-track after earning a grant from the state’s culture secretariat, one of eight dance projects and the sole folclórcio program that qualified for funding.
The 40-minute Chicomoztoc production comprises a series of episodes representing the Aztec vision, their passage at Lake Chapala, colorful rituals and fierce battles with rival tribes. The outstanding choreography is complemented by flashy costuming, dramatic lighting effects and heart-throbbing musical themes, including three original pieces composed for the program by Mexico’s eminent pre-Hispanic musicologist Ernesto Cano.
In the second act of the February shows Son de México will treat audiences to its brilliant interpretations of lively regional dances from Nayarit, Veracruz and Jalisco.
Performances are scheduled for February 8 and 22, at Noon, and February 15, 1 p.m. Tickets priced at 150 pesos per person are on sale at Yoly’s Unisex Salon, Plaza Bumbambilias; Diane Pearl Colecciones, Ocampo at Colón and the auditorium box office.