❁Dia de los Muertos ~ Dancers❁
In my last post I said I would share how Dia de los Muertos became an important holiday for me. In 2006 I stage managed for a play called “The Pain of the Macho” it is written by a prominent Hispanic author /actor named Rick Najera. One of the main focal points of this particular play is the Dia de los Muertos Alter that is mentioned in the monologues. It was then I began to research Dia de los Muertos and truly come to understand it’s meaning. The Pain of the Macho is a series of monologues that touch on what it means to be Hispanic in this day and age, the difficulties of trying to hold on to our culture while we’ve have quite effectively been Americanized and the difficulties our ancestors went though in their quest for The American Dream, which is an idealism that to this day we struggle to achieve. In the opening monologue Rick says, “This alter is here to help me remember, because the most fragile thing in the world is a memory.” I was extremely lucky that Rick was in attendance on opening night; it was such an honor to meet the man who created this touching work, more importantly he told me, “Write, write anything but write, write about your family and what it means to you to be Hispanic. We are in an ever changing world and much has changed for us in recent decades; record your experiences because you are not alone in the way you feel.” He also advised me to always stay in touch with your creativity and continue to grow and improve upon your talents. Thank you Rick, for changing the way I look and remember the world, thank you for making me want to push myself to new heights but most importantly thank you for your artistic contributions, you paint a picture with words that my heart sees with crystal clarity.
The following pictures are of the Urban 15 dancers, the entered the building at night to ominous sounding drums, their movement flowing with the rhythms, the LED lights in their costume making their Sugar Skull faces glow eerily. Once inside the room with the alters they erupted into flurried movements that seem driven solely by the music. The sounds of the drums created an infectious groove that many of the audience could not resist as they began to join the dancers with reckless abandonment. It truly was an awesome celebration of life, kudos to Urban 15 for their performance that night.
The Dance Begins
This trilogy of posts are dedicated to the memory of my grandparents; thank you for everything you endured so that I could have a better life, thank you also for the wonderful talents and memories you have passed on to me, thank you most of all for loving me as much as you did and teaching me the importance and power of both laughter and love.
❁Dia de los Muertos ~ Sugar Skulls❁
In thinking about this second post on Dia de los Muertos is occurred to me you may not be familiar with the holiday, I will share how it became important to me in the next post but first a little history. Dia de los Muertos is celebrated on the first and second of November and even though the are Catholic holidays as well, this is actually an indigenous Mexican holiday. It is believed that on the first the souls of children are allowed to return to be with their families for the day and on the second day the souls of the adults return. The alters are filled with food and gifts for the weary travelers, as well as remembrances from their lives. Often times we now see the Sugar Skulls as decoration but it is actually one of the traditional foods as well. Sugar art was brought to Mexico by the Italians Missionaries and it is and inexpensive way to make beautiful decorations. So the sugar was molded into a skull which was then decorated with colorful icing and then had the ancestors name written on it and it was presented as an edible offering. Today we see Sugar Skulls in much of the Dia de los Muertos artwork but I always have a special place in my heart for the people who adorn themselves as Sugar Skulls as a make-up artist I have a pro-found respect for a project that takes that much time and dedication to symmetry. So I share with you some of the unique individuals I photographed.
This girl managed to captured her youth while also masking her face, her simplicity paired with the traditional jewelery and accessories convey an interesting sense of innocence.
I love when men dress for the holiday, I guess it is because I think that we as girls naturally want to play dress up so I always think it is very cool when a guy goes the extra mile too. This couple looked incredible; their attire was entirely black and white except for the pink in her bangs, it really gave them their own very distinct look. I really thought the top hat was a nice touch too.
This couple looked awesome as well, they stayed with reds and blacks; I really like that she integrated her color choices with the make-up. I really like her costume and jewelery, I thought it was flapperesque.
I had to get a close up of her face because I loved her attention to swirly detail. I liked that she drew the upside down heart as the nose but also that she connected it to the one on her forehead, the whole look was very girly and cute.
I deemed this guy the fairest of them all because his work was just amazing, I love that he chose to work with greens and that he painted the flower on his chin, the over all look gave him quite a mystic presence.
This next shot was my lucky shot; I was actually eating dinner at an old and well known Mexican Restaurant when these people walked in. I thought they all looked amazing, each of them had a very distinctive yet very defined look. This particular restaurant has Christmas lights hung it in it year ’round, those and the wait staff created the perfect background for this picture.
It is my favorite and I call it Mi Tierra not only because of it is the name of the restaurant but because I embrace the connotations of the words Mi Tierra; it is my land, my home and my culture.
❁Dia de los Muertos ~ Alters❁
Has it really been so long? Quite a bit has kept me busy but I promise I have not forgotten you. 🙂 I know I insinuated that we were going to the coast but I figured I would post something a little more appropriate for this time of year and leave the coast until sometime in February when we will need the photos to remember what “warm” is (I am a big baby about the cold). We recently celebrated Dia de los Muertos here; if you are unfamiliar with it, it is a holiday where we remember the friends and family who have left us, celebrate their lives and try to honor their memory. While I have often desired to paint a sugar skull, I thought it would be better to honor those I miss by photographing some of the traditions of the holiday. So these next three posts are to honor the memory of those that reside in my heart.
I was lucky enough to attend the 33rd Annual Dia de los Muertos Celebration and Exhibit, held by Centro Cultural Aztlan; where there were alters on display, art by local artists, pan de muerte and a performance by the Urban 15 Dancers. Many of the alters were traditional in style but there were a few that showed a much more modern influence. The skulls in this colorful alter are gorgeous, I adore the crowns of flowers, feathers and butterflies. 
Some of the detail on the alters was amazing like the picture on the candle and these bride and groom skeletons. 
I thought these guys were cute; see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil, I thought the lotteria candle was a nice touch too. It is easiest described as Mexican Bingo and a game many of us have played as children. 
One of the most beautiful things about the alters are the photos people place on them, they are youthful and often of bygone eras.
A beautiful moment for this young couple in love immortalized, all the other photos were of this couple throughout various times of their lives.
A non-traditional alter but one where the creativity is an excellent homage to the life of Linda.
The collections of pictures from the ’70’s brought back many childhood memories for me.
The beauty of this alter was striking, to see these women on this fabric was reminiscent of the way the memories of of loved ones can sometimes feel translucent yet not faded.
This artistic alter simply took my breath away. The colors and style were unlike anything else, the reoccurring theme of time a reminder as to how limited it is.
Life
Death
Me … hahaha … JK
Another painting by the same young artist named Oscar A. Galvan Jr., I don’t know what he calls it but it reminds me of a dance. 
I hope you enjoyed these alters and I promise to return to you soon with another tradition in a couple of days.
Lahaina Laura 