View From Casita Colibrí

Lighting, costumes, music, and dance combined to envelop last night’s audience at the Teatro Macedonio Alcalá in an other worldly experience.  Catrina is a magical tale where the world of the living converges with the world of the dead and the central theme is the pain of a mother losing her daughter.

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The show is a celebration of the pre-Columbian traditions and culture of Oaxaca, especially the ritual and meaning surrounding Día de los Muertos.  Much of the music was traditional Oaxacan and most performers were Oaxaqueños, including Alejandra Robles, singing the title role.

At 48% (that’s over 1.6 million people), the state of Oaxaca has the second highest indigenous population in Mexico.  Perhaps that is why the belief systems of the ancient Mexicans Octavio Paz, cites in The Labyrinth of Solitude, remain strong today.  He writes, “Life extended into death, and vice-versa.  Death was not the natural end of life but one phase of an infinite cycle.”  Healthier, more realistic, and more comforting, I think…