Party: "Dia De Los Muertos"

Party: "Dia De Los Muertos"

Sunday, November 2

"Dia De Los Muertos" (Day of the Dead)
Orquestra Pacifio Tropical
New Move
Luz Elena Mendoza y Edna Vazquez con Los Mariachi Perla de Portland
Boleros
Instrumental Prehispanic Group - Los Aguacates Cosmicos
DJVJ Chanteuro
Aztec Dancers
BUY TICKETS
5 p.m. doors, 5 p.m. show
All ages welcome
$10 advance, $12 day of show (12 and under free)
"Dia De Los Muertos" (Day of the Dead)
My name is Luz Elena Mendoza, and I am a Mexican American who has been living here in Portland for almost 8 years.

The music from my band, "Y La Bamba," has been inspired by my latino upbringing, family traditions, and the history of my ancestors. This is why I would like to share my vision of an important Mexican holiday with you.

Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead is a celebration of all the saints in our lives who have passed away. It is an event that is rich in Mexican American traditions. This is a holiday of indigenous observances dating back hundreds of years to an Aztec festival dedicated to a Goddess called Mictecacihuatl, a celebration that gathers family and friends to pray for and to remember those family and friends who have died.

Our 4th annual "Day of the Dead" (Dia de los Muertos) celebration in Portland is scheduled for Sunday, November 2. It will start with a traditional procession led by music through the streets of Portland. Participants will be dressed in black and have painted faces, "como esceletos catrinas y catrinos."

The procession will meet at 4pm at the PSU Urban Center at SW 5th Street and SW Mill St. It will end at the Crystal Ballroom, where inside, the festivities will continue. These include performances of Mexican Prehispanic Music and Aztec dancing, as well as live music from a Cumbia band and other Latino musicians from the surrounding community.

The procession and festivities are open to the community: family, children, and friends.

We will be working with volunteers and schools to create art programs, where children may work on Day of the Dead decorations, such as prayer flags and sugar skulls. For help with materials and music we asking for contributions at the event: Adults $10 in advance; $12 at the door. Children under 12 are free.

We hope this year, as in past years, to make this night a special Dia de los Muertos for the Portland Community.

If you are interested please feel free to contact me at [email protected]

Orquestra Pacifio Tropical



Deep in the vein filled jungles of each of our hearts beats a music with roots as wide as continents and influence as deep as time itself. Cumbia, music of the Southern American Hemisphere. Orquestra Pacifico Tropical have taken this frenetic, addictive rhythm and accomplished what musicians across time and space have always done, bringing crowds into a blistering dance frenzy. From clubs to the forests of the Pacific Northwest, to hear the ecstatic thump, rumble, and sheer brilliance of the racing rhythms of coastal Columbia side by side with the psychedelic guitar explorations of the Peruvian rain forest is to travel across continents and through time with Orquestra Pacifico Tropical as the guide. WIth respect to those who came and innovated before us, and armed with an arsenal of percussion, woodwinds, horns, accordion and guitars, these 11 friends have come together in the spirit of capturing and breathing new life into this most essential of musics. Cumbia, music of the people.

Featuring members of Sun Angle, Deer or the Doe, O Bruxo, Ioa, Lewi Longmire Band,Tu Fawning, Point Juncture WA, Modernstate, Jippedo and Team Evil, Orquestra Pacifico Tropical's wall of sound is dedicated to expanding the music of Central and South America to the people and dance floors of the Pacific Northwest.

Aztec Dancers

In English:

Ollin Aztec dance group Yoliztli ( life and movement. )

It is a group that is serving the community for the purpose of rescuing our roots.

For us, The Dance is a conjuring of magic that functions clearly in society, for the good of the community.

Aztec Dance is not folklore, but instead, a solar ceremony that opens the doors to invisible dimensional planes. They dance in a circle reproducing the circular cosmic movement of perfection, the homogeneity, also the symbol of the spinning wheel of time.

Each one dances like a flame that burns its own problems. For the Aztecs, the balance and contact with their environment was very important. They had the belief that singing and dancing kept them in harmony with the movement of the world, and thus, remain in balance with the universe. In pre-Hispanic times the " song and dance " was called " In Cuicatl InXochitl " ( Song and Flower ) , because it was a way of offering that allowed them to be in contact with the deities who manifested in nature. The dance was considered as a moving form of concentration with which to make offerings and to channel their strength to the achievement of their objectives.

The ritual dance was called Macehualiztli ( merit ) and the popular dance was called Netotiliztli . Every move in the choreography of dance has a specific meaning . Squats and serpentine movements represent fertility , steps firmly on the ground represent the earth and its seeds, the twirls, the air and the spirit. Advanced steps, the downgraded fire, and water the zigzagging steps . There is always a relation to the four elements, water , fire, wind , earth . Also this number is prevalent in Mexican culture as it also represents the four directions , north, south , east, west among other interpretations .

Sacred Circles based on purifying the thousand-headed monster called civilization. Uniting male and female, heaven and earth .


En espanol:

Grupo de danza azteca Ollin Yoliztli (la vida y el movimiento.)

Es un grupo que esta al servicio de la comunidad con el proposito de rescatar nuestras raíces .

Para nosotros la danza es un conjuro mágico que tiene una función claramente social, el bien de la comunidad.

La danza azteca no es folclor sino una ceremonia solar que habré puertas dimensionales con los planos invisibles. Se danza en circulo reproduciendo el movimiento cósmico el circulo de la perfección la homogeneidad también el símbolo del tiempo la rueda que gira.

Cada uno danzando como una Yama que calcina los propios problemas. Para los Aztecas el balance y contacto con su entorno era muy importante. Tenían la creencia que el canto y la danza los mantenían en armonía con el movimiento en el mundo y así estar en balance con el universo. En la época prehispánica al "canto y la danza" se le denomino "In Cuicatl InXochitl " (el Canto y la Flor), porque era una forma de ofrenda que permitía estar en contacto con las deidades que se manifestaban en la naturaleza. A la danza se le consideró como una forma de concentración en movimiento con lo cual al ofrendar y pedir podían canalizar su fuerza al logro de objetivos.

A la danza ritual se le llamó Macehualiztli (merecimiento) y a la danza de popular se le llamó Netotiliztli. Cada movimiento en la coreografía de la danza tiene un significado especifico. Las sentadillas y movimientos serpentinos representan la fertilidad, los pasos asentados en el suelo la tierra y la siembra, las vueltas el aire y el espíritu, los pasos avanzados y retrocedidos el fuego y los pasos zigzagueantes el agua. Siempre se encontrara relación a los cuatro elementos, agua, fuego, viento, tierra. Así mismo este numero es prevalente en la cultura mexica ya que también representa las cuatro direcciones, norte, sur, este, oeste entre otras interpretaciones.

Círculos sagrados basados para purificar el monstruo de mil cabezas llamado civilización. uniendo lo masculino y lo femenino, el cielo con la tierra.

Invited: Cary Clarke, Kristen Mozian, Ashley Klump, Kevin Melancon, Morgan Reynolds, Ngozi Olemgbe, Katherine Keeling, Ayla Rose Gilbert, Latima Chambers, Kara Jane, Faye Sweeney, Chris Stone, Rachel Elizabeth, Elha Cardona Garcia, Amanda Manjarrez, Rachel Milbauer, Nikki Portela, Elia Unverzagt, San Juana Acosta-González, Sarah Ing, Richelle DeVoe, Claudia Pinedita, Amber Resendez, Laura Klein, Whitney Price, Chrissy Morgan, Carlos Segovia, David Swadis, Hollie Leilani Hayes, Thomas Patrizio, Marisa Morby, Shanna Marie Zaldarriaga, Aaron Kissinger, Blake Palmer, Çody Tømas, Tara Hershberger, Joshua James Huff, Nicholas Petrich, Davin Gauthier, Sophia Stalker, Alex Asselin, Alexander Bekuhrs, Lily Ash Sakula, Sierra Nunley-Gross, Sheridan Fletcher, Stacey Villalobos, Laci Gondor, Minh Ha, Mario Andres G. Naveda, Stephanie Fernandez Linares, Tiffany Purkeypile, Janelle Grant, Linda Castillo, Jessica Lisboa, Charlie Cavallo, Emma Johnson, Rob Bekuhrs, Karen Swift, Nanci E. Luna Jimenez, Tui Twofeather Thompson, Gabby Fierro Montgomery, Maree Bento, Jose Luis Martinez, James M Schultze, Natalia Ospina, Jenny Carrizo Smith, Tony Green, Mark Shepherd, Tom Chamberlain, Amy Staples, Anthony Miller, Honey Murillo, Meggyn Pomerleau, Roxana Rodriguez, Venessa Madrigal, Amy Dragon, Javier G. Madrigal Jr., Mike Elliott, Sara Regina, Tassa Chabouni, Carola Ibanez, Emily Overstreet, Linneas Boland-Godbey, Brandy Poirier, Magda Gonzalez, Suzanne Piluso, Keight Gleason, Monica Gutierrez, Arlen Cornejo, Amy Bennett, Julia Blond, Margaret Lily Andres, Pepe Moscoso, Cyn Major, Ingrid Renan, Alejandro Bautista, Kris Serenity Cartwright, Danielle DeMuro, Cherylyn Snyder, Valenka Langlois Speer show more »