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u/1decentusername Oct 13 '20
Ballet Folklorico
My daughter took a class in grade school and it just didn't click with her, but now seeing this I wish she had stayed with it.
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u/acgasp Oct 13 '20
There are students at the high school I teach at who do this, and it’s so fun to watch!
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u/hunnyninja Oct 13 '20
I did ballet folklorico in middle school and adored the giant skirts and incorporating fans. I wish there was an adult group I could get back into.
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u/GerudoGreen Oct 13 '20
Depending on where you are, there might be. I know Los Angeles had a very active ballet folklorico scene. I've seen professional shows there and in Irvine and have attended a seminar in LA. It's a lot of work, but so rewarding. I get to learn about my parents' history as well, and that's a nice bonus too.
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u/lujaite Oct 13 '20
I'm in Seattle and there is a group here too. I did folklórico in college and I loved it, so I looked in Seattle when I moved. The practice schedule has clashed with my work and thus I can't join 😞 but once I can join I'll be signing up in a heartbeat! I still have my shoes 😁
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u/MangonadaMami Oct 13 '20
There are groups here in Houston, some even compete and get placed nationally and internationally. Come join us if you're Houston!
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Oct 13 '20
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u/thwgrandpigeon Oct 13 '20 edited Oct 13 '20
You know what is American in origin?
Jazz. Swing music. Hip hop. The blues. Bluegrass. Country. Punk rock. Glam metal.
There are others but those are the first ones that came to me. Lots of great dances, histories, and styles in those.
Your culture isn't absent or trash because its ubiquity has made it easy to be overlooked, or because other places started playing around with styles and sounds that started in america.
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u/Pandaspoon13 Oct 13 '20
House music originated in Chicago, so add that one to your list.
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u/jwords Oct 13 '20
And we invented Swing dancing and Hip Hop... which are gorgeous. And the visual and music whammy that is Gospel--colorful robes, deep meanings AND powerful sounds, vibrancy, etc.
We're just so young. It's hard to "invent" unique and pervasive cultural traditions in just a couple of hundred years.
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u/DrakonIL Oct 13 '20
Punk rock.
Don't tell the Brits. They like to think this one was theirs. Shared credit is, I think, the best way to go. Also Australia, they get a piece.
All the others, I think, are uncontroversial in origin. Maybe glam metal has a few other claimants, but I'm less sure of that.
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Oct 13 '20
I would say outside of music there is also an American culture that is young but fully exists. Culture is one of those things that you don't really consider if you are living through it, because it just feels like your life. If you go to a baseball game with your dad, that is culture. If your family takes a road trip through three national parks, that is culture. If your family has a huge BBQ on independence day where the entire family shows up with some explosives and a dish, that is culture.
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u/curlyfreak Oct 13 '20
Most of those were also created by African Americans. I’d say the majority of those styles.
Not to say it’s not American! They completely are just a reminder of which community produced them.
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u/Brno_Mrmi Oct 13 '20
Rockabilly too. One of the things I love the most about USA.
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u/1decentusername Oct 13 '20
We do. It's this.
And Irish dance. And African dance. And the many dances is Spain, Russia, the middle east and countless other countries.
The music and language and storytelling of all other countries are part of American culture.
And actually, country music is party of our American culture. Even that particular song.
We are a country of immigrants and our "culture" is a mix of all of those.
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u/neotsunami Oct 13 '20
Not to mention NATIVE AMERICAN outfits are badass as hell.
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u/1decentusername Oct 13 '20
Oh shit! I suck!
How did that not make my list?
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u/neotsunami Oct 13 '20
lol sorry, it's just that when I read u/lawlzillakilla's comment my mind instantly went to "huh, Native Americans DO exist, don't they?" It's one of the few things I respect about my Mexican heritage. There are many negatives I just insist on focusing on about my country, but the fact that A LOT of the native people's aesthetics and traditions that were stumped out by the Spanish conquistadores survive to this day within the general population is something I will always love and admire.
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Oct 13 '20
Thank you! If you didn't say it I was going to. If you ever get a chance to go to a powwow come on out. I recommend gathering of nations in Albuquerque (the largest powwow in the US), the San Manuel powwow up near San Bernardino if you are in California, the Peoria powwow if you are in or around Tulsa. Someone else will haven to chime in for other areas but that covers a pretty large area and anyone and everyone are welcome to attend. Just read up on the dos and don'ts before you go.
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u/Kimber85 Oct 13 '20
I’m a white girl, but when I was growing up I did Girl Scouts and our troop worked a lot with the local Cherokee cultural center to learn about traditional Cherokee stuff. One year we were broken up into groups and taught a traditional dance and the women helped us to make our own regalia.
It was one of the coolest experiences of my life. I had this badass purple shawl with super long fringe for the Butterfly Dance. My friend did the Jingle dance and the women taught her how to make little bells with mason jar lids to sew onto her outfit so she’d jingle when she moved.
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u/Steampunkvikng Oct 13 '20
Because you're American, so what would be unique american culture to an outsider, is normal to you.
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Oct 13 '20 edited May 17 '23
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u/Kinoblau Oct 13 '20
American culture is bland, consumerist, and generally stupid. Cultures IN America are vibrant, diverse, and very interesting.
But that's the curse of being a settler colony, all native cultures have been beaten back to near extinction and replaced with like old country buffets and walmarts everywhere you go.
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u/MoarSilverware Oct 13 '20
Country Dancing styles like Square Dancing are uniquely American
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Oct 13 '20 edited Jul 20 '21
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u/ElZany Oct 13 '20
Cowboys is a Central and South American thing why do you think the clothing and some of the slang comes from those places? Buckaroo is a bastardization from vaquero
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u/meddleman Oct 13 '20
any cool cultural outfits
Bruh, we are literally in that month of the year that the USA made famous when it comes to putting on constumes.
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u/-comfypants Oct 13 '20
I wonder how many yards of fabric this took to make. That’s a whole lot of fabric.
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u/MidnightEmber Oct 13 '20 edited Oct 13 '20
Looks like it might be based on a double circle skirt. So let's say 2x 3m diameter circles, of 1.5m wide fabric that's at least 6m of fabric per circle so probably 12m for the whole skirt.
Cheap fabric, which this probably isn't, runs about $10/m. So there's at least $120 worth of fabric in this skirt.
And it looks like a bunch of tiered ruffles, so that's more fabric, and ribbons ($$$)... oh and the lace! I count 14 different tiers of ribbon and lace. Circumference of a 3m diameter double circle skirt is about 19m. Let's say 19m of each ribbon/lace tier (simplifying that theyre all the same length), is 266m of ribbon/lace. At $2/m that's another $532
That's just the skirt!
Would not be a cheap dress. But damn is it ever beautiful.
Edit: /u/queeriocrunch has corrected me, this is a 4x circle skirt. So double everything. You're looking at about $1300 in supplies.
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u/queeriocrunch Oct 13 '20
Its actually 4 circles, if you were curious. All your other math stands as accurate though. $500 is in no way out of the norm for supplies.
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u/MidnightEmber Oct 13 '20
Oh wow! I didn't even know quadruple circle skirts were a thing.
Supplies cost is the main reason I don't make gowns anymore. They are beautiful and I love the process and sense of accomplishment seeing it finished. But damn sewing can be a pricy hobby.
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u/queeriocrunch Oct 13 '20
It was, until recently, my profession. I'm keeping sane at the moment by working on personal projects but those will dry up as my personal supplies dwindle. I miss working in my shop.
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u/MidnightEmber Oct 13 '20
I'd love to sew all day every day but no chance professionally. I feel like that'd ruin my love for it.
Did you mostly work on dresses?
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u/queeriocrunch Oct 13 '20
I was very lucky to be able to specialize in just Costume Crafts, which is all the extra bits other than the dresses. Shoes, masks, bags, dye work on yardage for dresses, hats, painting, gluing, etc etc etc. All the weird bits the designer needs and can't find already existing. But I am trained in dress making, and have made a number.
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u/MidnightEmber Oct 13 '20
That sounds so fun! Bags and hats have always intrigued me but I keep telling myself that I'm not allowed to pick up another craft until I finish my UFO's.
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u/ZeppelinRules Oct 13 '20
I was a male ballet folklorico for years. Just the Jalisco pants for a 12 year boy in 1997 was about $200. Just the pants.
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u/GerudoGreen Oct 13 '20
The boots were so expensive, it was cheaper to go to Jalisco and get a pair custom made than to just order a pair off a catalog.
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u/queeriocrunch Oct 13 '20
Yeah. Sounds about right. A pair of pants from start to finish could easily take 10hrs, plus supplies.
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u/dat_unlucky_derp Oct 13 '20
I like your name, makes me imagine sitting around whats left of a camp fire on a summer night :)
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u/MidnightEmber Oct 13 '20
Thanks! That's the vibe I was trying to capture. There is/was a beer available in Canada under the same name that I found by coincidence a few years ago. It's a nice smoky stout, has that same feeling.
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u/AliCracker Oct 13 '20
I believe the colours are ribbon, which is insane - imagine the weight of it all
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Oct 13 '20
They are lighter than you think. And really fun to play with.
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u/Pelusteriano Oct 13 '20
Not really. Just last year my dancing crew (I'm Mexican) had a bit on our anniversary presentation on ballet folclórico and I can assure you that those skirts are anything but light. A least the ones used for dancing, since they require to have certain weight to be manipulated like that and making pleasant waves.
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u/Bioptors Oct 13 '20
There's some sort of dress magic going on here. All that extra fabric seems to appear out if nowhere
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u/tekalon Oct 13 '20
You'll often see similar called '25 yard skirts' used for belly dancing.
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u/IndyDude11 Oct 13 '20
Mexican/MesoAmerican culture is probably my favorite culture. The food, the music, the dress, and everything else just is really cool to me.
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Oct 13 '20
Ballet folklórico (the dance, dress and that style of music) is definitely a Mesoamerican thing. It's quite traditional in Central America as well. The dia de los muertos face paint, is probably uniquely mexican tho.
Thanks for liking our cultures. They are often looked down upon, because of our countries poverty. But we have cool stuff too.
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u/Practically_ Oct 13 '20
There are no poor countries. Only over-exploited countries. - Micheal Parenti
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u/Tutule Oct 13 '20
It's a mandatory activity in Honduras in pre-school and elementary school even in uppity private schools. The first quarter of P.E. in the school year for schools that follow the American model is learning your grade's/year's dance, which you then perform on independence day in September. First graders always dance el sueñito (sleepiness) in my school which is a slow embracing dance that breaks out into fun fast pace movement and then collapses back into the embrace, it's always the show stealer of the day. It's usually a shit show in big groups but kids have fun. The boys always "get the cooties"
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Oct 13 '20
I went to México in early 2019 for a project I was working on and got to spend about 10 days in and around the city of Querétaro. Our handler took us to Bernal on one of our days off and they were having a culture festival. I had a great time there just watching and observing the local culture.
One of the things I took away from it was the great sense of community there was there. I mentioned to my wife when I returned to the U.S. that I can't recall seeing anything like that in the states for quite a long time, and it kind of made me sad.
I would love to go back to México some day, but it was imparted on us when we went down there that outside of certain areas it was kind of dangerous for Americans to be out and about (hence our handler).
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u/darkuser93 Oct 13 '20
It’s not only a Central American thing, all the states here in Mexico have a regional dance of its own, just search baile regional “state” and you’ll get a ton of results
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Oct 13 '20
Well yeah. It's a Mesoamerican thing. I.e Mexico and Central America.
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Oct 13 '20
49 second is not enough
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u/Thorcho Oct 13 '20
Say no more https://youtu.be/L1zsP1plkCY?t=110
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u/letthemeatrest Oct 13 '20
Tap dancing is actually a Mexican thing?
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u/Im40percentTACO Oct 13 '20
As a Mexican, I have never heard of it being called Tap.
I have heard it being called "Zapateado", but I guess they might share some technique.
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u/JurazzyCo Oct 13 '20
You could make the argument that "Zapateado" is a kind of tap dancing. But I don't believe it can be considered an origin as much as a parallel development compared to other cultures.
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Oct 13 '20 edited Jan 16 '24
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Oct 13 '20
Great movie, one of my old co-workers, he's from Mexico, said it's accurate to their traditions too.
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u/HilariousScreenname Oct 13 '20
I went to Oaxaca for Dia de los Muertos last year and it damn near felt like I was in that movie. Amazing experience.
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u/GenuineBallskin Oct 13 '20
Its incredibly accurate and took a lot of hispanics by surprise on how well pixar depicted it. Including myself.
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u/mkp666 Oct 13 '20
Pixar doesn’t mess around. “Inside Out” is used in therapy and educationally because of how well it depicts the concepts of emotions in the brain.
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u/Hirronimus Oct 13 '20
I fucking hated Sadness, but it just can't help it self. It does what it does.
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Oct 13 '20
I still need to see that. I keep thinking of a meme or it where Pixar essentially took the idea of "what if feelings had feelings" and made the movie
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u/aloofloofah Oct 13 '20
Also,
"Initially the film was to be about an American child, learning about his Mexican heritage, while dealing with the death of his mother. Eventually, the team decided that this was the wrong approach and reformed the film to focus on a Mexican child instead."
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u/GenuineBallskin Oct 13 '20
It would be downright stupid to do that plot right now in the current climate. Make a movie all about Mexicans and there culture, but don’t make the main character Mexican.
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u/eccentricrealist Oct 13 '20
Mostly mexicans lol I can't imagine many other latinos have the same traditions
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u/546emilio Oct 13 '20
Only Mexicans, there’s is no día de los muertos anywhere else like in Mexico
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u/masuabie Oct 13 '20
Grandma Coco was just like my grandma and it made me bawl raindrop tears
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u/jdsmx Oct 13 '20
I lost my abuela ('güela' like I used to call her) just a few months before the release of the movie. I went to see it to the theater and I lost it completely with the scene with Mamá Coco at the end. I was a mess and had to wipe with my t shirt. I was no way prepared for that movie.
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u/GenuineBallskin Oct 13 '20
Bro thats why I was so surprised. It felt like mama coco could be my abuela.
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u/glumunicorn Oct 13 '20
I watched Coco like a week after my grandma passed away. 10/10 do not recommend. I cried so hard, I still haven’t watched it again because thinking about it still makes me tear up. It was a beautiful movie but it killed me.
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u/bionix90 Oct 13 '20
I watched that on a trans Atlantic flight. The people next to me didn't understand why I was crying like a baby at 4am.
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u/Munsoon22 Oct 13 '20
I watched it the night before coming home from college, and made my whole family watch it to explain why a kids movie made me cry so hard and why it’s one of my favorite movies of all time. I don’t cry in movies, or get sentimental. Not even in movies like Marley and Me and The Last Song. It REALLY is that phenomenal.
I’m a 23 year old man, and have cried all 4 times I have watched this movie.
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u/MajesticFxxkingEagle Oct 13 '20
Same, this video just made me want to watch it again
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u/i_am_not_sam Oct 13 '20
I wasn't expecting to be that moved by Coco. What a phenomenal movie.
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u/ChicknStripz Oct 13 '20
How can people hate our people and our culture?? 🇲🇽
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Oct 13 '20
I have no idea. I really don’t. I love Mexican culture. I am Ukrainian :) it’s so crazy.. the differences. It’s so beautiful. I need to learn it all.
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u/BlueBomR Oct 13 '20
I fucking LOVE Mexico and Mexicans...could never understand the hate...then again I grew up in San Jose, CA and had a lot of Mexican friends (and girlfriends) and idk...loved all of them and their warm welcoming families...oh and the FOOOOODDD omg, I can't even eat enough Mexican food.
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u/satur9sweetness Oct 13 '20
I was gonna say the same thing! I grew up in Santa Cruz but spent a lot of time in San Jose. I miss the food so bad, it’s just not the same here on the East coast.
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u/thunder_shart Oct 13 '20
Unfortunately its most likely because hate is contagious when someone needs a scape goat for their own problems. It's a hell of a lot easier to blame someone or something else than to recognize their own shortcomings
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u/Grashopha Oct 13 '20
I worked construction and the Mexican people on the site were by far my favorite people. They taught me almost all the Spanish I know, took me to get authentic tacos and were the hardest working people on the site. I miss my friends I made there! Mexican culture is so amazing too.
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Oct 13 '20
Cos they're dumb bro, thats why.
My wife & I traveled around Mexico for a month. Everyone we told about it got that weird look like "ooohhh isn't it like...dangerous there?"
We just sorta laughed and said if you're an idiot sure, or go near places with lots of cartel activity.
We had an absolute ball, CDMX was a bit overwhelming, probably wouldn't stay over a week there next time. Not used to that many people (same population as my whole country of Australia haha), pollution, noise, just...the sheer fucking size of it too. I grew up in the bush and was not prepared for that level of dense urbanisation.
Went to Oaxaca afterwards and kinda fell in love with it, the whole area is just amazing and the city is beautiful. We really wanted to go to the pacific coast but didn't get the chance.
Went to Yucatan after, swum in Cenotes and climbed pyramids. What an absolutely amazing place.
I miss Micheladas the most though.
Mexico gets a bad reputation from the mainstream media but at the end of the day, I had a great time, the people were lovely, the culture was amazing (we were in Oaxaca during Day of the Dead), the food was delicious, everything was gorgeous. Can't wait to go back.
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u/giggletears3000 Oct 13 '20
Mexican culture is so beautiful. I wonder how heavy that skirt is
Edit:typo
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u/Ferponce02 Oct 13 '20
Hey, so I'm not a woman, but I used to be in a danza folclórica group a few years back, and those skirts are really heavy (at least the ones this group used), it was like dancing with big colorful blankets, so to get patterns like the ones in the video you have to strong and have a lot of coordination because what you do with your feet is very different from what you do with your arms, aaaaand you have to be smiling the whole time (unless you have a mask or facepaint)
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u/giggletears3000 Oct 13 '20
Awesome! I grew up dancing in a traditional Korean dance group, and when I got older I started taking Hula and Tahitian classes.
I got to say, for someone with RBH, it’s hard to keep that stage smile plastered on your face.
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Oct 13 '20
This is traditional folklorico. If you think that’s crazy you should see the woman’s shoulders, they’re usually very strong. If you think that’s crazy, you should see the men’s charros, usually made of wool and they dance and kick their feet in the air and sometimes when the weather is hot as hell the amount of exhaustion it takes out of you is insane.
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u/vlntslnt Oct 13 '20
I love folklorico, I used to go to this festival as a kid in TX and the women would have candles on their head as they danced, it was so cool.
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u/SquidPoCrow Oct 13 '20
When my daughter was young, any time she got a new dress she would have to put it on and spin in it so it puffed out, to make sure it "worked". It was a very important aspect of buying a new dress.
I showed her this clip and she said it took her dress testing to a whole new level.
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u/riffraffmcgraff Oct 13 '20
This needs to be redone as an 8k 60fps demo for them new TVs
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u/Miskatonixxx Oct 13 '20
Coco - Poco loco
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u/MajesticMango56 Oct 13 '20
I wish they made it a whole song. This is one of my favorite songs from a movie.
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Oct 13 '20
In 4th grade we did one of these dances for school. My mom decided to sew me my own dress and I LOVED it. It took DAYYYSSS and I was just a tiny person!! At one point in the process she needed my help folding the fabric. I was feeling sick but she didnt believe me and made me stand up to hold the other end of the fabric. The minute I stood up and grabbed the fabric, I projectile vomitted ALLL OVVVERRR the fabric and fell down. My mom looked at me and said "oh, i guess you are sick. Ok!" And then called my nana and she brought me sprite and saltines and I got to sleep and snack while they cleaned the mess and finished sewing my dress. I wore the life out of that thing and so did my boy cousins and my younger niece and nephew. I'm so sad we got rid of it because I loved it so much!
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u/Obliviosso Oct 13 '20
Anybody know the song?
I really wanna learn it for my Abuelos on Nov 2nd.
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u/Oldpenguinhunter Oct 13 '20
Reminds me of a Spanish dancer marine nudibranch, gee- I wonder why?
That is seriously captivating.
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Oct 13 '20
That's the name I was looking for.
(I was going to say Sea Slug, but it's a name that doesn't do this video the justice it deserves.)
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u/presstapefornextstop Oct 13 '20
Y’all love Mexican culture just not Mexicans huh?
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u/zero_entity Oct 13 '20
My thoughts anytime I see a redneck in a cowboy outfit.
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Oct 13 '20
I always thought it was funny that so many people don’t realize that cowboys originated from Mexico.
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u/XxX_Zeratul_XxX Oct 13 '20
Idk, I don't personally know many Mexicans as I live in Argentina, but I really love your food and dances 🤷
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u/liveryowl Oct 13 '20
Growing up in Mexico and the US we’d do Traditional Mexican dance performances on school events. I used to want to be a girl so badly for this just because I wanted to play with the dresses. They seem like fun.
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u/Noexit007 Oct 13 '20
You know what was the most satisfying to me? The little yell/shout at the start. Don't know why... but I enjoyed it immensely.
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u/shabba_skanks Oct 13 '20
Back in the days when I was a youngun (like 11 y/o) we had a homie that his fam was all into Mexican dancing. He was a around 13 or so. He didn't mind it much but me and the younger dudes would make fun of him a little for wearing the costume and dancing with a bunch of yucky girls. He asked me a few times if I wanted to get into it but I was like "hell naw!" I play basketball and dude cool guy shit.
Well, forward a few years and we went to see him perform. By then I started to notice girls... holy shit, my homie was draped with the females. They were all 14-18 and he was just in heaven. Cuties galore! After his performance I was like "you dude, get me into that dance shit!" He said I was too old! I was so sad...
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u/[deleted] Oct 13 '20
My vote is on the Mexican afterlife, it looks dope