A Mexican-style celebration took place in the Marsee Auditorium with typical music and dances presented during the event to celebrate Chicano culture on April 26.
The concert was presented by Conjunto Huyapan, a family music group that plays “Son Jarocho,” a folk musical style in the Coast of Mexico, specifically in Veracruz. A characteristic of this type of music are verses about love or humorous verses.
El Camino history professor, Xocoyotzin Herrera, is one of the members of this musical group. The group, all dressed in white, played are the harp, guitar and a Jarana Jarocha.
Nuestras Raíces is a folkloric dance group that Argelia Andrade, a Spanish professor in EC is part of. The dance group joined Conjunto Hueyapan on stage, as well as two other dance groups, a children group and an adult dancers group.
The children performed “Zapateado,” a dance where the feet are the most used of the body. This Mexican-style dance is like the tap dance and the Conjunto Hueyapan played a song called “El Tilingo Lingo.”
Conjunto Hueyapan followed that up with “El Canelo” and the adult dancers accompanied the musical group. The women wore traditional white dresses with red and white flowers in their head, while the males wore white pants and shirts with a red scarf around their necks and a sombrero on their heads.
Mariachi Estrella de Jalisco was the second musical group to perform. The Mariachi is a traditional Mexican-style that is found in the Western of Mexico.
The instruments that the group played were three violins, two trumpets, a harp, a Guitarron and a ukulele.
The children and adults dancers came together to dance to beat of the Mariachi. The dancers changed their outfits for this performance, the girls and women wore colorful dresses, while the males were wearing costumes similar to the Mariachi’s.
The Mariachi performed multiple songs, including “Aires Del Mayab,” as well as a traditional song, “Mexico Lindo y Querido” by Jorge Negrete.
The Mariachi closed the event with the song, “Paloma Negra,” which was a request from audience members.
This is the third year this event has taken place at EC, and Andrade wishes that there will be more, because there are a lot of Latinos that are proud of who they are.
Jayoung Seo, 19, fashion major, she said that she attended the event because her history professor asked her to attend.
“This is my first time to watch a Mexican music and dance concert,” Seo said. “I didn’t really know about the Mexican music, but through this concert I found the differences between my country’s music style and Mexican music. Mexican music is faster than Korean traditional music, but I enjoyed it so much and I’m so happy.”
Jason Minera, 23, physics major, on the other hand, had heard about the show from a friend.
“I enjoyed the music and I enjoyed being with your ‘raza,'” Minera said.
Jessica Romero, 20, math major, also came to the concert because her friend told her about the Mariachi.
“I chose to come honestly because I’m proud of where I’m from, so it was nice to see (it) once in a while,” Romero said. “I enjoyed the little kids and the adults dancing around. It made me happy. I really paid attention to the footsteps and it is hard work.”
Editor’s Note April 30 5:27 p.m.: Photo credit for the third photo corrected to give photographer Brandon Park appropriate credit.
