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Mexico
Museo Internacional del Barroco; Puebla, Mex
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Museo Internacional del Barroco; Puebla, México
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Ballet Folklórico de México in London
What do I think when I hear the name “Ballet Folklórico de México“? Well, I think of colourful clothes, big smiles, joyful music and great “zapateado”. I also think of Sunday TV and weirdly enough, school. I do remember the end-of-year festivals at school, when señorita Caballero would choreograph some traditional dances for us.
I was thus very pleased to see in the Guardian Weekend, that Ballet Folklórico was coming to London, and that it would be the first time in 20 years that they would be in the British Isles. I had never seen them live, so it was a great opportunity to do so, and boy was I pleased to have done so!
They had their show at the London Coliseum, the home of the English National Opera, and it was a great venue to hear some well-known songs. I was expecting great dancers, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear live music from start to finish.
The programme was divided into 9 distinct parts, going from Mariachis to pre-hispanic dances and indeed a lot of zapateado:
- Los Matachines: as many cultural expressions in Mexico, La Danza de los Matachines (also known as “Moros y Cristianos”) is a clear mix of European and pre-hispanic influences. It is a popular dance in religious festivals in the North of the Country. The interpretation presented in London was simply superb.
- Guerrero-Guerrero: The name of one of the Mexican independence heroes; one of the states in the country is named after him and perhaps best known for places such as Acapulco. The company presented three parts here Solo de Mariquita, Las Amarillas and El Gusto.
- Mexican Revolution: There is no November 20th parade in Mexico without the mention of Adelita and Las Soldaderas. This makes reference to the brave women who joined the fight during the Mexican Revolution in 1910. I really liked the reference to the railways as an important means of transport for los revolucionarios.
- Charrería: Sometimes dubbed the “Mexican National Sport”, Charrerías incorporate equestrian competitions and demonstrations, specific costumes and horse/cattle trappings, music, and food. I was truly amazed by the lasso skill of the main Charro who never stopped dancing.
- Fiesta en Tlacotalpan: Tlacotalpan is a town inthe state of Veracruz. It has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, and the Ballet Folklóriko celebrated the traditional 2nd February Candelaria party with a Carnival. It was great to see real mojigangas on the stage. Even La Bamba made an appearance!
- Los Quetzales: A quetzal is a magnificent bird with beautiful plumage. And with just a few movements, I felt transported to Puebla de los Ángeles. Great headwear and lots of colour!
- Danzón and Jarana: Once again the mixing of cultures in Mexico brings a fantastic result and in this case Europe, Africa and the Caribbean give us dances such as Danzón and Jarana, from Veracruz to Yucatán.
- Danza del Venado: And from the South of the country, to the Sonora Dessert in the North. La Danza del Venado (or dance of the deer) is a visceral performance representing the hunt of a the deer by the Yaquis. Truly magical performance!
- Jalisco: If Mexico is known for anything in particular, it would definitely have to be for teh recognisable sombreros, and Mariachi music from Jalisco. How did I enjoy the Jarabe Tapatío, La Negra and Viva México.
What a great way to finish a fantastic performance. People could not be stopped from joining in from their seats. I am truly glad that I had a chance to join la fiesta while El Ballet Folklórico de México came to visit London. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did!
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Chiles en Nogada
I was very pleasantly surprised by Cantina Laredo today.
The food was good and the service spot on. Not only that, but the girl behind the bar remember us from the last time we were there and… and also remember what we had ordered! Not that we had something out of the ordinary, but still!
Finally, if that was not surprising enough, it was great to see that the typical September dish called Chiles en Nogada was offered in the menu. Well done Cantina Laredo!
#Popocatepetl has been spewing some ash… Pics
Well, it would not be a visit to Puebla without having a look at the pair of volcanoes Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. Great views, but I was now expecting coming out from dinner and having the feeling that it was foggy… It was not fog, but actually volcano ash from Popocatepetl.
Sistema Numeral y Calendario Maya
Los Mayas son una de las más grandes civilizaciones humanas. No sólo tienen una excelente agricultura, cerámica y la escritura jeroglífica, pero también tienen obras arquitectónicas impresionantes y arte simbólico, así como matemáticas, astronomía y calendarios. Dicen por ahí que los Mayas predijeron “fin del mundo”, pero para mí se trata más bien del fin y el comienzo de un ciclo en el calendario Maya; no muy distinto de nuestro arbitrario 31 de Diciembre…
Para entender el ciclo del calendario Maya, es necesario saber un poco acerca de su sistema numérico, que es un sistema vigesimal, es decir, sobre la base del número 20. El sistema utiliza tres símbolos numéricos básicos, una concha para el cero, un punto para el 1 y una línea para el 5. También hay que resaltar es que los Mayas fueron una de las primeras civilizaciones en el mundo en desarrollar el concepto del cero. El sistema es pseudo-posicional; en un verdadero sistema vigesimal posicional, el número que aparece primero indica el número de unidades hasta 19, el siguiente número denota el número de 20s hasta 19, el siguiente el número de 400s hasta 19, etc. En el sistema de numeración Maya inicia de esa manera con las unidades hasta 19, seguido de 20s hasta 19, pero cambia en el tercer lugar, el cual denota el número de 360s hasta 19. Después de esto el sistema revierte a múltiplos de 20 por lo que el cuarto lugar es el número de 18 × 202, la siguiente el número de 18 × 203 y así sucesivamente. Por ejemplo [8, 14, 3; 1; 12] representa
12 + 1 × 20 + 3 × 18 × 20 + 14 × 18 × 202 + 8 × 18 × 203 = 1253912.
Otro ejemplo [9; 8; 9; 13; 0] representa
0 + 13 × 20 + 9 × 18 × 20 + 8 × 18 × 202 + 9 × 18 × 203 =1357100.
Ahora bien, veamos el calendario: el calendario y el sistema numérico están estrechamente relacionados. Los Mayas tenían dos calendarios: Tzolkin de 260 días, con 13 meses de 20 días cada uno, y el Haab de 365 días, con 18 meses de 20 días cada uno y un mes más corto de 5 días (llamado Wayeb). El Tzolkin era un calendario ritual, mientras que el Haab era civil; el Wayeb era considerado de “mala suerte”. Con estos dos calendarios, es posible calcular cuando inician un nuevo ciclo: el mínimo común múltiplo de 260 y 365 es 18,980 días, equivalente a 52 años civiles o 73 años rituales. La astronomía también jugó un papel importante, por ejemplo, los astrónomos Mayas calcularon el período sinódico de Venus (después del cual el planeta regresa a la misma posición) siendo éste de 584 días. En dos ciclos de 52 años, Venus habría dado 65 vueltas y volvería a la misma posición.
Aparte de esos calendarios, los Mayas tenían otra forma de medir el tiempo utilizando una base de escala absoluta de una “fecha y hora de creación” la cual a menudo se toma como el 12 de agosto 3113 AC (pero por supuesto que es una cuestión de debate). Esta fecha puede ser tomada como el cero de la llamada “Cuenta Larga”. La Cuenta Larga se basa en un conteo de 360 días representados en el sistema de numeración Maya. Vamos a echar un vistazo a un ejemplo: [9, 8, 9, 13, 0] es la fecha de finalización en un edificio en Palenque en Tabasco, México. Esto se traduce en
0 + 13 × 20 + 9 × 18 × 20 + 8 × 18 × 202 + 9 × 18 × 203
que es 1357100 días a partir de la fecha de creación del 12 de agosto 3113 por lo que el edificio fue terminado en el año 603 DC.
La Cuenta Larga se divide de la siguiente manera:
- 1K’in = 1 día
- 1 Winal = 20 K’in
- 1 Tun = 18 Winal = 360 K’in
- 1 K’atun = 20 Tun = 7200 K’in
- 1 Baktun = 20 Kátun = 144,000 K’in
El 21 de diciembre del 2012, el Baktun 14 comienza, teniendo como representación [13,0,0,0,0] y, por supuesto, se termina el Baktun 12 … ¡pero ciertamente no se acaba el mundo!
Mayan Numeral System and Calendar – Sci-advent – Day 20
The Mayas are one of greatest human civilisations. Not only did they have excellent agriculture, pottery and hieroglyph writing, but also have some of the most impressive architecture and symbolic art as well as mathematics, astronomy and calendar-making. It is said that they had predicted the “end of the world”, but I would like to think of it as the end and beginning of a calendar cycle. Not so different from the arbitrary December 31st in our calendars…
In order to understand the Mayan calendar cycle, we need to know a bit about their number system, which is a vigesimal system, i.e. base on the number 20. They used three basic number symbols, a shell for zero, a dot for 1 and a line for 5. Also of note is that they were one of the earliest civilizations anywhere in the world to have the concept of zero. The system is pseudo-positional; in a true positional vigesimal system, the number that appears first would denote the number of units up to 19, the next would denote the number of 20s up to 19, the next the number of 400’s up to 19, etc. In the Mayan system the numbering starts in that way with the units up to 19 and the 20s up to 19, but it changes in the third place and this denotes the number of 360’s up to 19. After this the system reverts to multiples of 20 so the fourth place is the number of 18 × 202, the next the number of 18 × 203 and so on. For example [ 8;14;3;1;12 ] represents
12 + 1 × 20 + 3 × 18 × 20 + 14 × 18 × 202 + 8 × 18 × 203 = 1253912.
As a second example [ 9;8;9;13;0 ] represents
0 + 13 × 20 + 9 × 18 × 20 + 8 × 18 × 202 + 9 × 18 × 203 =1357100.
Now, to the calendar: the calendar was truly behind the number system and vice versa. They had two calendars: Tzolkin with 260 days, with 13 months of 20 days each, and the Haab with 365 days, with 18 months of 20 days each and a shorter month of 5 days (called Wayeb). The Tzolkin was a ritual calendar, while the Haab was a civil one and the Wayeb was considered “unlucky”. With these two calendars, it is possible to see when they would return to the same cycle: the least common multiple of 260 and 365 is 18980 days; equivalent to 52 civil years or 73 ritual years. Astronomy also played an important role for instance, Mayan astronomers calculated Venus‘ synodic period (after which it has returned to the same position) to be 584 days. In two 52 year cycles, Venus would have made 65 revolutions and be back to the same position.
A part from those calendars, the Mayas had another way of measuring time using an absolute scale base on a “creation date and time” often taken to be 12 August 3113 BC (but of course that is a matter of debate). This date can be taken as t the zero of the so-called “Long Count”. The Long Count is based on a count of 360 days represented in the Mayan number system. Let us have a look at an example: [9; 8; 9; 13; 0] is the completion date on a building in Palenque in Tabasco, Mexico. It translates to
0 + 13 × 20 + 9 × 18 × 20 + 8 × 18 × 202 + 9 × 18 × 203
which is 1357100 days from the creation date of 12 August 3113 BC so the building was completed in 603 AD.
The Long Count was divided as follows:
- 1K’in = 1 Day
- 1 Winal = 20 K’in
- 1 Tun = 18 Winal = 360 K’in
- 1 K’atun = 20 Tun = 7200 K’in
- 1 Baktun = 20 K’atun = 144,000 K’in
On December 21, 2012, the 14th Baktun starts with the representation [13.0.0.0.0] and of course the 13th Baktun finishes… but certainly not the world!
Muchas gracias por sus enseñanzas Dr Leopoldo García-Colín Scherer. Todo un honor haber sido su estudiante.
Muchas gracias por sus enseñanzas Dr Leopoldo García-Colín Scherer. Todo un honor haber sido su estudiante.
