The hunt is on for a valuable statue in this comic crime thriller from “the funniest man in the world” (The Washington Post). A small South American republic has decided to capitalize on its national symbol: a prized gold statue of a dancing Aztec priest. The president asks a sculptor to make sixteen copies of it for sale abroad. The sculptor replaces the original with one of his fakes, and ships the real one to New York City for an under-the-table sale to a museum. The statues travel to America spread out among five crates, labeled to ensure that delivery goes as planned. But it doesn’t work. Asked to pick up the crate marked “E” at the airport, delivery man Jerry Manelli, confused by his client’s Spanish accent, takes crate “A” instead. The statue disappears into the city, leading him on a baffling chase, which—if he comes up with the wrong Aztec—could cost him his life.

This book is a must read for anyone who would like to learn more about Dance in Mexican History. It is an especially important reference for teachers of Mexican Folkloric Dance who would like to incorporate Mexican Dance History into their teachings. Using the time frame of 1325-1910, Martínez-Hunter skillfully gives a brief overview of Mexican history accompanied by an analysis of the dances during this period. She begins by diving into accounts of the Aztec dances in Pre-Hispanic Mexico before and after the conquest. Then, she describes the Dance Dramas that arose when the Spanish began to Christianize the Indigenous people. During the Spanish colonization, Martínez-Hunter notes the ways in which theatrical dances were imported from Europe to Mexico; the influences of the court dances including the pavane, sarabande, and the chaconne which began in the New World and traveled to Europe; as well as the Indigenous, mestizo, Chilean, and African influences on the dances of Mexico. Then, covering the dances during the Independence of Mexico (1810-1821) until the beginnings of the Mexican Revolutionary War (1910-1920), Martínez-Hunter juxtaposes the popularity of the European ballroom dances with the dances of the peasant people known as jarabes and sones. To honor the life's work of Martínez-Hunter all the photographs of the jarabes and sones included in this book feature her dancers of the University of Texas at Austin Ballet Folklorico from the 1970s. They document her many contributions to Dance when she was a faculty member at this institution.

In pre-Colombian Mexico, song and dance were vital components of daily life. However, all that is left of this vast tradition of lyrical verse are fewer than 200 poems, most contained in three codices written just after the Spanish conquest. In this new translation, David Bowles employs the tools of English verse to craft accessible, powerful versions of selected songs from the Aztec and Mayan civilizations, striking a balance between the features of the original performance and the expectations of modern readers of poetry. With full-color illustrations, a thorough glossary and insightful introduction, 'Flower, Song, Dance' brings a neglected literary tradition to life for the 21st-century.

Winner, Oscar G. Brockett Book Prize in Dance Research, 2014 Honorable Mention, Sally Banes Publication Prize, American Society for Theatre Research, 2014 de la Torre Bueno® Special Citation, Society of Dance History Scholars, 2013 From Christopher Columbus to “first anthropologist” Friar Bernardino de Sahagún, fifteenth- and sixteenth-century explorers, conquistadors, clerics, scientists, and travelers wrote about the “Indian” dances they encountered throughout the New World. This was especially true of Spanish missionaries who intensively studied and documented native dances in an attempt to identify and eradicate the “idolatrous” behaviors of the Aztec, the largest indigenous empire in Mesoamerica at the time of its European discovery. Dancing the New World traces the transformation of the Aztec empire into a Spanish colony through written and visual representations of dance in colonial discourse—the vast constellation of chronicles, histories, letters, and travel books by Europeans in and about the New World. Scolieri analyzes how the chroniclers used the Indian dancing body to represent their own experiences of wonder and terror in the New World, as well as to justify, lament, and/or deny their role in its political, spiritual, and physical conquest. He also reveals that Spaniards and Aztecs shared an understanding that dance played an important role in the formation, maintenance, and representation of imperial power, and describes how Spaniards compelled Indians to perform dances that dramatized their own conquest, thereby transforming them into colonial subjects. Scolieri’s pathfinding analysis of the vast colonial “dance archive” conclusively demonstrates that dance played a crucial role in one of the defining moments in modern history—the European colonization of the Americas.

Remains to be Seen is a fascinating series which looks at the past through the archeological evidence that remains today. Exploring the Aztecs discusses who the Aztecs were, and how their ancient civilisation in Mexico developed. Who was Moctezuma, and what was it like to live in Tenochititian, the Aztec capital city built on a lake? The reader is taken on a guided tour of the Aztec world, exploring their capital city, and discovering a world of emperors, nobles, priests, warriors, commoners and slaves who belonged to one of the greatest civilizations in the Americas.

In villages and towns across Spain and its former New World colonies, local performers stage mock battles between Spanish Christians and Moors or Aztecs that range from brief sword dances to massive street theatre lasting several days. The festival tradition officially celebrates the triumph of Spanish Catholicism over its enemies, yet this does not explain its persistence for more than five hundred years nor its widespread diffusion. In this insightful book, Max Harris seeks to understand Mexicans' "puzzling and enduring passion" for festivals of moros y cristianos. He begins by tracing the performances' roots in medieval Spain and showing how they came to be superimposed on the mock battles that had been a part of pre-contact Aztec calendar rituals. Then using James Scott's distinction between "public" and "hidden transcripts," he reveals how, in the hands of folk and indigenous performers, these spectacles of conquest became prophecies of the eventual reconquest of Mexico by the defeated Aztec peoples. Even today, as lively descriptions of current festivals make plain, they remain a remarkably sophisticated vehicle for the communal expression of dissent.

'Of Aztecs and Conquistadors' is the definitive collection of Juan Pablo Jalisco's poetry. The selection featured within these pages will carry the reader on a journey not only through the vast beauty of the land that is Mexico, but also serves as a journey through the ages that have helped to shape this at times wild and rugged, but always romantic and awesomely beautiful country and its people.

Latino folklore comprises a kaleidoscope of cultural traditions. This compelling three-volume work showcases its richness, complexity, and beauty. Latino folklore is a fun and fascinating subject to many Americans, regardless of ethnicity. Interest in—and celebration of—Latin traditions such as Día de los Muertos in the United States is becoming more common outside of Latino populations. Celebrating Latino Folklore: An Encyclopedia of Cultural Traditions provides a broad and comprehensive collection of descriptive information regarding all the genres of Latino folklore in the United States, covering the traditions of Americans who trace their ancestry to Mexico, Spain, or Latin America. The encyclopedia surveys all manner of topics and subject matter related to Latino folklore, covering the oral traditions and cultural heritage of Latin Americans from riddles and dance to food and clothing. It covers the folklore of 21 Latin American countries as these traditions have been transmitted to the United States, documenting how cultures interweave to enrich each other and create a unique tapestry within the melting pot of the United States.

From the migration of the Aztecs to the rise of the empire and its eventual demise, this book covers Aztec history in full, analyzing conceptions of time, religion, and more through codices to offer an inside look at daily life. This book focuses on two main areas: Aztec history and Aztec culture. Early chapters deal with Aztec history—the first providing a visual record of the story of the Aztec migration and search for their destined homeland of Tenochtitlan, and the second exploring how the Aztecs built their empire. Later chapters explain life in the Aztec world, focusing on Aztec conceptions of time and religion, the Aztec economy, the life cycle, and daily life. The book ends with an account of the fall of the empire, as illustrated by Aztec artists. With sections concerning a wide variety of topics—from the Aztec pantheon to war, agriculture, childhood, marriage, diet, justice, the arts, and sports, among many others—readers will gain an expansive understanding of life in the Aztec world.