The Aztec Dance Club at Fresno State will celebrate Día de los Muertos at 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Nov. 1-2, in the Free Speech Area on campus with ceremonial dances, speeches and music.
Día de los Muertos is a traditional Mexican celebration to honor and remember the dead by decorating gravesites or altars (altares) with mementos the loved one cherished. It coincides with the Roman Catholic observance of All Saints Day on Nov. 1 and All Souls Day on Nov. 2.
The Free Speech Area will become a brightly colored altar with papier-mâché skulls on display. Members of the student Aztec Dance Club and the community group Yoztaltepetl and other volunteers will decorate the altar with marigolds, candles and brightly colored papel picado (cut paper).
“It’s an opportunity for the public to ask questions about the altares and an opportunity for us to share our culture and the meaning behind the tradition,” said Daniel Mejia, the Aztec Dance Club president who is a senior art major from Patterson.
Schedule:
Thursday, Nov. 1 – 4 p.m. Native American songs sung by Jason Cerritos of Fresno; 5 o’clock presentation on the Zapoteco celebration of Día de los Muertos; 6 o’clock Aztec dance ceremony.
Friday, Nov. 2 – 4 p.m. Native American flute music performed by Luis Sanchez, a senior English major from La Piedad, Michoacan; 5 o’clock presentation about the altars’ significance; 6 o’clock Aztec dance ceremony.
The free event is cosponsored by Fresno State’s Aztec Dance Club, Associated Students Inc. and El Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA).
For more information, contact Mejia at 209.495.5824 or mejiaavelar@gmail.com.
(Copy by University Communications student news assistant Alejandra Garcia.)
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