Alegría - Folklórico Méxicana

Morelos is located in southwest Mexico. Lying on the south side of the central plateau, Morelos is the second smallest state in Mexico. It is bordered to the north by Mexico City, to the west by the states of Mexico and Guerrero, and to the southeast by Puebla. The state has a rich history reaching back to the Olmec. Indigenous peoples long considered the Morelos region as a refuge from political strife and holiday retreat. The Tlahuica and Aztecs established religious sites here long before the Augustinians and Dominicans built their monestaries. When Cortés built his "Cuernavaca" castle in 1531, he did so on the ruins of an Aztec pyramid.

The state is named after José María Morelos y Pavón, a mestizo priest who joined Miguel Hidalgo's 1810 rebellion against the Spanish. After Hidalgo's 1811 execution Morelos became the leader of the government. Much of his support came from the local peasants, and he used the state as both a base and a refuge until his 1815 capture and murder by the Spanish. The region was always a hotbed for revolution from the War of Independence until nearly a century later with Emiliano Zapata and his Zapatistas.

Located in Morelos are many archaeological sites. Near the town of Tepotzlán is the site that is said to be the birth place of Quetzalcoatl, the omnipotent serpent god of the Aztecs. Here you will find that some of the inhabitants have retained their pre-hispanic lifestyles. Nauhuatl is still spoken everywhere and some villagers still proudly honor Tepoztecatl, the god of pulque, god of drunkenness, god of fertility, and more. The annual pulque party is held is held each September and brings out the folk dancers called chinelos dressed in full regalia. They dance the traditional two step called el salto.