Danzas Chuscas: Performing Migration in a Zapotec Community

Abstract

Danzas chuscas are parodic dances performed in indigenous and mestizo villages throughout Mexico. In the village of Yalálag, a Zapotec indigenous village in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, danzas chuscas are performed during religious celebrations, a time when many Yalaltecos (people from Yalálag) who have immigrated to Los Angeles return to visit their families. Since the late 1980s, these immigrants have become the subject of the dances. Yalaltecos humorously represent those who have adopted “American” behaviors or those who have remitted negative values and behaviors from inner-city neighborhoods of Los Angeles to Yalálag. Danzas chuscas such as “Los Mojados” (“The Wetbacks”), “Los Cocineros” (“The Cooks”), and “Los Cholos” (“Los Angeles Gangsters”) comically portray the roles that Yalaltec immigrants have come to play in the United States. Danzas chuscas such as “Los Norteños” (“The Northerners”), “Los Turistas” (“The Tourists”), and “El Regreso de los Mojados” (“The Return of the Wetbacks”) characterize Yalaltec immigrants as outsiders and visitors. And the choreography in dances like “Los Yalaltecos” (“The Residents of Yalálag”) and “Las Minifaldas” (“The Miniskirts”) reflect changes in these immigrants' social status, gender behaviors, and class position. In other words, these dances embody the impact of migration on social, economic, and cultural levels. Through physical humor immigrants and nonimmigrants confront the tensions and uncertainties stemming from Zapotec migration into the United States: community social disorganization, social instability, and changes in the meaning of group identity as it relates to gender, class, ethnicity, and culture.

Táncantropológia és migrációkutatás

“…Két migrációval összefüggő és latinamerikai táncjelenségekkel kapcsolatos nagyon izgalmas kutatás arra irányította rá a figyelmet, hogy miként képeződnek le a migráció társadalmi változásokat előidéző folyamatai a konkrét közösségi táncos praxisokban, a táncoló testek mozdulataiban. Adriana Cruz-Manjarrez egy vidéki mexikói őslakos közösség Mexikóvárosba és az Egyesült Államokba irányuló munkaerőpiaci migrációs folyamatainak komplex és számos vonatkozásban negatív és a közösségüket romboló társadalmi következményeit tanulmányozta (Cruz-Manjarrez, 2008. A yalalag közösség táncos gyakorlatainak Cruz-Manjarrez által elemzett változásai egyfelől a hagyományos táncformák felhasználásával megjelenítették, a mozgás által megfogalmazták ezeket a változásokat, másfelől a közösségi táncok társadalmi praxisán keresztül a kedvezőtlen változásokról való közösségi egyezkedésre is kísérletet tettek.…”

Traversing the Border

“…Despite those contributions, the cultural aspect of transnationalism is often overshadowed by the economic effects of transnational development (Levitt and Lamba-Nieves 2011). The last two are danzas chuscas, which are parodic dances (Cruz-Manjarrez 2008). The last two are danzas chuscas, which are parodic dances (Cruz-Manjarrez 2008).…”

“…Danzas and fiestas are significant examples of the role of culture in identity formation and active citizenship at the transnational scale (Cruz-Manjarrez 2008). Indigenous identity, which overlaps with dimensions of class and gender, has been used to politically organize and demand autonomy (Stephen 1991; Vázquez García 2011).…”

“…Our research focuses on three danzas : La Danza de los Negritos, danced in reverence of the patron saint; another dance imitating community leaders and actors; and a dance imitating waiters. The last two are danzas chuscas , which are parodic dances (Cruz-Manjarrez 2008). 5 Each danza demonstrates how de-territorialized cultural practices contribute at different scales to collective action, governance, and citizenship.…”

“… 5. Cruz-Manjarrez describes other danzas chuscas , for example, dance of migrants who cross the border without documents (Cruz-Manjarrez 2008). …”