DESCRIPTION:
This is a performance of "el tranchete," a dance from the Mexican state of Jalisco. http://PalominoProDVD-CD.com It´s full of fancy footwork, and I love those costumes!

In this performance, the dancers are from Grupo Folklórico Tlapalli (José Somoza as choreographer and lead dancer, with Javier Silva and Juan Yánez). The music is played by Mariachi Colima de Javier Magallon.

The dance is usually done by men, and it´s supposed to show the fancy moves that the guys have trained their horses to make. It comes from the days of the cowboys, the "charros" of days gone by.

A "tranchete" is a kind of knife that a shoemaker uses. I have no idea how the dance got named that. If any of you knows, please leave a comment!

This performance is from my upcoming documentary, "Strong Roots, Bright Flowers: Arts of Mexican Immigrants and Chicanos." It will have three performing groups (the folkloric group Grupo Tlapalli, a música norteña/Tex Mex group called Conjunto Romero, and an Aztec dance group still to be filmed), a cartonería artist (Rubén Guzmán) and an artist who is a muralist, painter, ceramicist, dancer and musician (Ernesto Olmos, Besi Beni).

I expect the documentary to be completed by the end of August of this year (2014).