Viva la Independencia!

I had the pleasure of attending the Viva la Independencia festival in downtown Lafayete at Festival plaza on Saturday. The festival was established by the Latino Advisory Board and I want to mention what a great job the organizers did to put on this event. There were several bands & dancers, with people of all ages and many cultures enjoying the festivities.

I have to admit that anytime I see these types of displays of costume and culture, I feel a tinge of jealousy about the fact that here in the US, we don’t really have a recognizable traditional dress, dance or song. While there is definitely a huge amount of pride in the US being a melting pot of other cultures, it serves as a reminder of how "young" the US really is compared to many other cultures and countries. I was just so impressed with the colorful dresses and hairstyles and talented dancing of the dance groups: one a traditional Mexican dance group, Baila Conmigo,

and the other was Danza Azteca, a group of three Aztec dancers, including Enrique Maestas and his fiance, Angela. A picture of me and Enrique below:

In addition, I had the pleasure of meeting Ramon Del Castillo and hearing him speak and recite a poem celebrating independence and the responsibility that we all have to guarantee continued independence for everyone and protection of human rights. Ramon Del Castillo is currently a Professor and Chair of the Chicana/o Studies Department at Metropolitan State College.

As I introduced myself and thanked him, I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. When there was a brief break in the program, I had the privilege of being asked by Dr. Del Castillo to take a moment to address the crowd. Rosabelle Rice, the Chair of the Latino Advisory Board, was kind enough to translate. While I speak German and some French, I do not (yet) speak Spanish. I recognized the City Council members who were in attendance, thanked all the performers and organizers for their contribution, and said what a wonderful time I was having. I mentioned my stong belief in an inclusive and diverse community and that I would appreciate their vote for City Council.

To close out the events at Festival Plaza before moving for the evening location at Angevine, the group Danza Azteca, an Aztec dance group, invited everyone to join in the Friendship dance. It included a circle of dancers from the crowd combined with rhythmic drumming, conch shell calls, burning incense or herbs, stomping and warrior cries that we could all follow. I believe we should all learn something new every day and I learned a lot in the 3 hours of my attendance at the festival. Two items struck particular interest:

*Aztec dancers were among the first to be killed in 1519 when Cortes invaded from Spain, conquered the Aztecs and took control of the region.
*The traditional women’s dress from Veracruz, a state in Mexico, is a beautiful, long, white lace dress with red trim and a black apron. These talented women performed an entire traditional dance with a glass of water atop their heads.

I’m so glad that I was able to attend and I would encourage all the residents of Lafayette to pay attention to other upcoming events sponsored or recommended by the Latino Advisory Board. Viva la Independencia!