page_title: Concheros
section_title: Performance
hierarchical_section_title: Concheros / Performance
caption_attribution_description: English: Aztec dance/ritual at Juana de Asbaje Park in Tlalpan, Mexico City
context_page_description: The Concheros dance, also known as the Chichimecas, Aztecas and Mexicas, is an important traditional dance and ceremony which has been performed in Mexico since early in the colonial period. It presents syncretic features both pre-Hispanic and Christian. The dance has strong visual markers of its pre-Hispanic roots with feathered regalia, indigenous dance steps and indigenous instruments such as drums. However, the name Concheros comes from a type of lute made with an armadillo shell, showing Spanish influence. The dance in its current form was the adaptation of the old “mitote” dance to Catholicism as a means of preserving some aspects of indigenous rite. It remained a purely religious ceremony until the mid 20th century when political and social changes in Mexico also gave it cultural significance as a folk dance. Since the later 20th century, a sub group of the dance called Mexicas has emerged with the aim of eliminating the European influence, often with political aims. This form of the dance migrated to the United States in the mid-1970s and can be seen in states such as California in Mexican American communities.
context_section_description: While the dance contains a number of highly visual markers of its pre Hispanic roots, it is not strictly indigenous. The dance, with its variations, is a multilayered phenomenon with both religious, cultural and political meanings, depending on the people involved. Most in Mexico who participate in dances say that they do it for personal and/or spiritual reasons, and many are those with mundane city jobs during the week looking for something the “transcends” the ordinary. Most dancers do not do so as performance although the dancers generally attract spectators.
  Concheros do not dance alone but are generally organized into groups with hierarchies. The basic group is called a “mesa” (lit. table). The most traditional of the Conchero groups in Mexico are registered with the Association of Concheros, and generally part of a complex associative network based on interpersonal relationships. Most conchero groups consider themselves as “descendents” of a “dance forefather” who is named in the standard of the mesa.  Each mesa has a group of officers such as a captain, alférez, sergeants and soldiers with a special post held by women called malinche. The captain may be a man or a woman but the post is often hereditary and is recognized by other Conchero groups. The captain's house contains an altar with the image of the group's patron saint as well as the group's standard. The captain is in charge of organizing pilgrimages, and other ritual obligations, sometimes even paying for the expenses of the group. Dancers are both individual and group. The standard is held during events by the second lieutenant. Sergeants maintain order during ritual. Malinches are in charge of the censers for the constant ritual cleansing of space. Traditional Conchero dance groups consider their performance as spiritual and therefore do not solicit donations. Those who do are called “chimaleros.”
  When performing at a church, the traditional Concheros will acknowledge the patron saints of the site, when walk in two lines towards the outside atrium or square, fronted by the second lieutenant holding the standard. The officers take a place which becomes the center, surrounded by the other dancers.  There is often an inner circle which consists of the leaders, and altar, the drummers and the older members of the group and an outer circle with younger dancers often with males and females alternating. The dance circles is divided into four sections with the lieutenants marking the cardinal directions.
  Before dancing, the Concheros call on deity and their ancestors, perform ritual cleansing with the aim of bringing the past and present together. One of these songs or praises is a mentioning of the four winds or cardinal directions, linked to the Four Evangelists. The main instruments of Concheros dancers include two pre Hispanic drums called a huehuetl and a teponaztli, conch shell trumpets and conchas, lute instruments made from the shell of an armadillo or other stringed instruments. The drums are generally in the center with various dancers holding the other instruments and with rattles (like the ayoyotes) in their hands and on their legs. The altar is often profusely decorated with flowers, candles, colored paper and many other objects.
  Upon signal, the two circles of dancers move, dancing both as a group and individually. The captain generally stays stationary in the middle. The inner circle with the elders moves more slowly and the outer circle contains younger dancers who generally perform more vibrantly with leaps and other difficult movements. The rhythm increases speed with occasional dancer breaking ranks to dance around the formation. Near the end of the session the speed slows and the captains dance. Most of the basic steps and much of the symbolism are pre Hispanic.
  The circle's focus is inward often to the group's banner. The dancers are often enveloped in incense smoke.  Conchero dancers do not touch each other and most movement is restricted to feet and torsos, leaving hands free to play various musical instruments. Many of the dancers and mus
caption: Younger dancer at Asbaje Park
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