Research Catalog

We dance for the Virgen : authenticity of tradition in a San Antonio matachines troupe

Title

We dance for the Virgen : authenticity of tradition in a San Antonio matachines troupe / Robert R. Botello ; foreword by Megan Biesele.

Author

Botello, Robert R.

Publication

College Station : Texas A&M University Press, [2022]
©2022

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request Scan Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Text	Use in library	*MGS (Mexican) 22-4645	Performing Arts Research Collections - Dance

Details

Additional Authors

Biesele, Megan

Description

xviii, 224 pages : illustrations (chiefly color); 24 cm.

Summary

"The danza de matachines is a tradition with roots in the Spanish colonization of Mexico that summons history for Mexican, Chicano, and indigenous communities. The elaborate ritual, regalia, and practices associated with the tradition tell of the repeated appearances of Our Lady of Guadalupe to the Aztec Indian Juan Diego as she provided instructions for the building of a church. Matachines have been dancing in Mexico and portions of the southwestern United States for as long as 300 years, and various troupes in San Antonio date their beginnings to the late 1800s, as immigrants from Mexico brought the tradition to the southern reaches of Texas. In We Dance for the Virgen, Robert R. Botello, who participated in a family-based troupe from 2006 to 2019, reviews the history of the tradition while contrasting the troupe's internal changes in traditions with those originating from the larger social and political context of San Antonio. In Botello's words, this book 'is as much about the dance and its history as it is about my transformation as a matachines dancer.' Botello ultimately examines issues of cultural appropriation arising from the association of the troupe with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio, revealing the resilience in a tradition that has remained true to its origins across many generations of dancers"--

Series Statement

Clayton Wheat Wlliams Texas life series; number 19

Uniform Title

Clayton Wheat Williams Texas life series ; no. 19.

Subject

Genre/Form

Biographies.

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references (pages [211]-216) and index.

Contents

Introduction: Encountering the Dance -- Histories Intertwined: Colonial Mexico, La Virgen, and San Antonio -- The Dance: What Happens and Why -- Life History of the Danza: A Continuity -- Memoir of a Monarca -- Culmination of Authenticity: Seeing the Dance through Experienced Eyes -- Autonomy and Devotion: Twin Pillars Supporting Continuity -- Appropriation of the Pilgrimage: A Catholic Priest Dances around the Details -- Anatomy of an Appropriated Pilgrimage -- Conclusion: The Interplay of Change and Continuity in a Danza de Matachines -- Troupe.

Call Number

*MGS (Mexican) 22-4645

ISBN

9781648430473
1648430473

LCCN

2021055928

OCLC

1286067711

Author

Botello, Robert R., author.

Title

We dance for the Virgen : authenticity of tradition in a San Antonio matachines troupe / Robert R. Botello ; foreword by Megan Biesele.

Publisher

College Station : Texas A&M University Press, [2022]

Copyright Date

Edition

First edition.

Type of Content

text

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Clayton Wheat Wlliams Texas life series; number 19

Clayton Wheat Williams Texas life series ; no. 19.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages [211]-216) and index.

Added Author

Biesele, Megan, writer of foreword.

Other Form:

Online version: Botello, Robert R. We dance for the virgen First edition. College Station : Texas A&M University Press, 2022 9781648430480 (DLC) 2021055929

Research Call Number

*MGS (Mexican) 22-4645

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