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Buenas tardes. Welcome everybody. Welcome back
to another performance today.
This is our second and last day of our weekend-long
Día de los Muetos/Day of the Dead festival
where we get to know the different traditons
connected with celebrating our ancestors.
I'm about to pass the mic to Jenny Vargas,
she's from a local group called Los Tecuanes,
who are from Manassas and who partcipate
with this museum often for this festival.
My name is Ranald Woodaman,
and I work at the Smithsonian Latino Center,
and my office works with this museum often
to put on programs like this, and as well
to put on a special exhibit that's up on the third floor
called, appropriately enough,
Cerámicas de los Ancestros, Central America's Past Revealed.
I'm going to pass the mic now to Jenny,
who is going to tell us about the performance we are about to see.
Thank you. Good afternoon everybody.
This is a presentation of Danza de los Viejitos or
The Dance of the Elders.
The Dance of the Elders, originally from South America
and the Andes region from where he ?? group
emigrated from Mexico at some point in their history.
The Viejitos Dance, as it has been said in Spanish
has four main components.
In the same way as there are four seasons in the year
there are four main directions in the compass
north, south, east, and west
and there are four elements that form the cosmos
earth, water, wind, and fire.
When dancing, performers portray
a strong religious and ritualistic sense.
Elders dance at the changing of every season,
at the summer's solstice and the winter's equinox.
The dance is to honor ?? viejo
or the old god ??
In the performance the line leader demonstrates
great vitality and energy
contrary to the dancer at the end of the line.
He behaves totally opposed
with fragel and dawdling moves
as if about to fall.
Both of those attitudes represent
strength and freshness of a new season
and the end or the remaining the new one to conclude.
The viejitos are dressed in garments
typically used by the farmers or campisinos
of the region.
The masks they wear show smiling expressions
with toothless mouths and elderly faces.
The masks ?? ?? pink skin tone
alluding to olden and youthful times.
There will be ?? contests
represented in a fresh and comic way during the performance.
First there will be a slow, awkward and ?? move,
but suddenly there will be youthful burst of vitality
rhythm and energy,
and added to will leave the dancers
visibly tired at the end of the presentation.
Hope you guys enjoy it.
Give it up again for Los Tecuanes,
a local cultural and performance group
from Manassas, Virginia.