Izcalli en Nanantzin: ambassadors of the Aztec dance
The Taos Aztec dance group led by Tanya Vigil has been in existence since 1981. For over
35 years, capitana Vigil and her danzantes have been representing the Aztec culture in Taos and beyond.
In May, Vigil traveled to Spain and performed in Santa Fe, a small town outside Granada that is home to the Museum Instituto de América. (Santa Fe, Spain, is a sister city of Santa Fe, New Mexico.)
The presentation was a collaboration with Spanish artist Xaverio Muñoz, whose retrospective show “A quantic perspective: 1975 - 2018” was featured at the same time. Muñoz, who has strong ties to Taos, was the recipient of a Wurlitzer Foundation artist residency in
2002.
“We offered our dance at this historic museum where Queen Isabella signed the documents for Columbus to start his journey,” Vigil said. “People were very welcoming. I explained to them that I was there representing the Meshika culture and also as a conquistadora, like their ancestors, but to conquer their hearts with peace, forgiveness, love and light.”
Vigil traveled with Taos native Flamenco dancer Catalina Río Fernandez, who often goes to Spain to buy outfits, castanets and combs (peinetas) for her students from the Elementary Arts Visiting Artists Program.
“People were very receptive and interested in knowing about our culture,” Vigil said. “They were curious about New Mexico and our indigenous and Hispanic traditions.”
For the ancient Aztecs, dance was as much performance as it was prayer, said Vigil.
“Today, it’s our offering to God, the saints and our ancestors,” she said. “It’s a form of worship that combines Native American, Mexican and Spanish traditions.”
She sees the dance as a platform that allows danzantes to maintain their roots and connect them to their present life.
“It’s also a physical, spiritual and emotional training,” she said. “You don’t become a danzante in a week. It takes a long time to master the steps and understand what they stand for. Every movement has a meaning, and it must be done right because the dance is a kinetic prayer.”
Danzantes wear traditional costumes that consist of headpieces, layered outfits (trajes) and ankle seed pods. The trajes are embroidered with shells, sequins, colorful seeds and tiny pieces of mirrors.
“For me, it’s a source of pride to wear my traje,” Vigil said. “It was embroidered by Gloria Martinez Cardona and depicts Aztec motifs like hummingbirds, skulls, even some Mayan symbols as well. It takes months, and sometimes up to a year, to make a traje. They are not only beautiful but also a way to assert our cultural identity.”
The group led by Vigil began in 1981 under the name “Grupo Taoseño,” but it didn’t start to blossom until 1986, when the
danzantes met Capitan Moises Gonzalez Barrios, a native of Mexico City.
“He took us under his wing and became our mentor and spiritual guide,” Vigil said.
Not long after that initial encounter, Gonzalez Barrios invited Vigil and her group to visit him in Queretaro, where he instructed them in the secrets and techniques of the dance.
“We learned many of the songs and movements we are still practicing today,” Vigil said. “We also received our beloved
estandarte, a banner that symbolizes our connection to the Mexican group.”
The banner depicts Saint James, which in Spanish is called “Señor Santiago de los Cuatro Vientos.” The “four winds” are the Virgin of Guadalupe, the Virgin of Remedies, the Christ of Sacromonte and El Señor de Chalma. Chalma is a Mexican sanctuary similar to Chimayo, outside of Mexico City.
Receiving the estandarte marked a new stage in the life of the group. It changed its name from “Grupo Taoseño” to “Izcalli In Nanantzin,” which means Resurgence of Our Mother Earth. They were then accepted as members of the Mesa Central de Queretaro —the local headquarters of the Aztec dancers in Mexico City.
Izcalli en Nanantzin performs in Taos throughout the year, usually every July at the start of the Fiestas. They also join other Aztec dancers for special celebrations in Los Angeles, Hesperia, California, Denver and other cities.
“Last March we met with dancers from all over the country in Albuquerque to celebrate the Aztec New Year,” Vigil said.
On Sept. 12, the current group members —Erick Valader, Patricia Corral, Alexandra Garaga and Tanya Vigil— will return to Queretaro to attend a velacion in honor of La Santa Cruz de los Milagros (the Holy Cross of Miracles). The velacion attracts up to 3,000 danzantes every year. They will be dancing for three and a half days on Queretaro’s cobblestones streets.
The Queretaro group is led by Capitan Miguel MartinezAguilar Cardona, whose family has been dancing for five generations.
“Returning to Queretaro after so many years feels like a spiritual pilgrimage,” Vigil said. “It’s also a way of reconnecting with dancers that continue to preserve the ancient Aztec traditions. We are hoping that our trip becomes a bridge and a gateway for all dancers to celebrate together our common roots and history.”