Alegría - Folklórico Méxicana

Re: competition quotes from various membership.

Might i add that Nuestro Folclore Mexicano came directly from all the countries that came to Mexico in 1492 in search of Gold. The folclore Mexicano that most of us represent, is not really truly Mexicano in a pure form. Rather bits and pieces of borrowed cultures from Spain, Germany, Poland, Russia, France etc. That includes the costuming, rather crude copies of the costuming of European Countries..

The only purist Mexican folclore is the indig. Indians, (Aztec, Mayan, Toltec etc.) and really were religious dances and not any type of folclore.

Therefore to attack the Espanoles is really not fair.. we do both in our group for that very reason, because there is such a mixture of cultures that they really cannot be separated as such unless you go purest and do only Pre European Dances.

However if you want to keep it pure in your competitions, then just state: Mexican only..Pure Indig. Dances from Indians. and no fancy sequins or anything, all materials for the costuming needs to be made from the dyes of the earth, and the skins of the animals etc.. And the music needs to be just the instruments that they made. No accordians or guitars (those are from the Middle East), or Violins..

You can see how far you can take this..
Where do you draw the line....

You could divide the competition into categories: Post European, Pre European, Purest, etc.

ok, as usual I'll respond on spanish. Sorry.

Yo creo que el principal problema de las competencias y/o festivales donde se dan ganadores esta en la misma diversidad del folklore y como cada uno de los que juzgan tiene una vision diferente de lo que es o debe ser la danza, asi pues, podemos considerar que existen jueces con vision mas tradicionalista (sin muchos saltos y con vestuario mas bien austero), mientras que otros lo hacen mas "espectacular" (musica en versiones nuevas y vestuarios incluso diseñados por ellos mismos), es ahi donde está la situación, muchas de las veces nuestra vision como maestros de grupos de danza no estamos a la misma vertiente de los jueces y estonces no somos calificados como creemos que merecemos. No estamos mal calificados, estamos en otra forma de ver y hacer danza!!
Si a esto le agregamos que muchas veces proyectamos a nuestros alumnos que lo que bailamos es la pura verdad del mundode la danza, no somos lo prudentes que debieramos para hacerlos mas abiertos a otros estilos de danza.
En lo personal he participado en Lubbock,Tx tanto como bailarin asi como maestro y en ambas ocaciones he salido bastante satisfecho del evento, mi participacion y mis resultados.
Bueno es lo que pienso.

This competition is scheduled for April 23 & 24. I have been directing this competition for 4 years and it has grown tremendously over the years. It is the only competition where scholarships are awarded to qualified participants with high scores. We aim to award every scholarship that is earned. Last year we hosted over 600 participants at this event and I expect 700+ this year. Unfortunately we can't award a trophy to everyone although every performance is greatly deserving. The judges are acclaimed folklorico and mariachi instructors well respected for their work and research. I applaud the participants, their directors, and their parents for their hardworking efforts to bring these students to Corpus Christi. La Competencia Folklorico Y Mariachi Del Mar promotes education, art, culture, health and wellness for all ages. This year we are awarding $3,000 in scholarships for folklorico and $500 for mariachi. Last year Buc Days awarded over $60,000 in scholarships to students of South Texas. Look forward to seeing you in Corpus Christi.