ABSTRACT
A line of masked “old men” treads falteringly across the stage, accompanied by the rhythmic strumming of a vihuela and the melodic strains of a violin. All the performers are costumed in white cotten shirts and trousers, covered with bright ponchos, heads topped with wide-brimmed straw hats. Rainbow-colored ribbons hang from the dancers’ hats tumbling over the white ixtle hair of the carved, wooden masks. The striking image is unmistakable: This is La Danza de los Viejitos-the Dance of the Old Men, of Lake Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, Mexico. It is performed by local musicians and dancers from Jarácuaro, not as part of local village celebrations, but at state-organized “folkloric” events and in hotels and restaurants for regional, national, and international tourists. State governmental and tourist literature refers to it as “folklore” and places it in unambiguous contexts that label it as P’urhépecha1 and “indigenous” and “from Lake Pátzcuaro, Michoacán.” In the Lake Pátzcuaro region postcards, mugs, t-shirts and other tourist items display the iconic image of the masked old-man dancers and musicians, confirming and perpetuating the notion that the Viejitos Dance is an essential element of “Mexican folklore.” Meanwhile in the heart of Mexico City, inside the ornate, art deco concert hall of the Palacio de Bellas Artes, the Viejitos Dance is also performed, by highly trained professional dancers and musicians of the Ballet Folklórico Nacional de México, the National Folklore Ballet of Mexico. As an accepted part of the repertoire of dance and music items carefully chosen to represent key peoples
and regions of Mexico, the Viejitos Dance fulfils its role as a signifier of P’urhépecha and, by indexation, “indigenous” identity.
