On Friday, Dec. 19, the sights and sounds of Christmas in Mexico come back to the Popejoy Hall stage, with colorful mariachi music and traditional ballet folklórico. This year marks Popejoy’s 25th celebration of New Mexico holiday traditions through Mariachi Christmas.
Through music and dance, the show highlights the faith and traditions found across Mexico in a cheerful holiday performance for the whole family.
Founded by Noberta Fresquez in Albuquerque, Mariachi Christmas tells the story of Christmas with regional and traditional folklore from several regions in Mexico.
Fresquez grew up in Deming, New Mexico, listening to Latin music and fell in love with the sound, which inspired her to launch a career in showcasing local talent in mariachi and ballet folklorico, she said. After moving to Albuquerque, she founded Mariachi Spectacular de Albuquerque in 1990.
“I just started dreaming of a Christmas show with mariachis, I felt like this is something that we need to preserve,” Fresquez said. “I just figured this is our opportunity to find ways of preserving the history — the originality of Mariachi music — so that it can be accessible to students.”
The show features musicians from Mariachi Juvenil Aztlán alongside the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley Ballet Folklórico dancers, according to a Popejoy press release.
The dance group consistently receives national recognition from the American College Dance Association, and the musicians received the “Outstanding College or University Mariachi” in a nationwide competition, according to the press release.
The show is narrated in English, and dances reflect multiple regions in Mexico, including Jalisco and Veracruz, while telling a holiday story including the birth of Jesus, Las Posadas and the Little Drummer Boy, Fresquez said.
“We just want to give as much history as possible, I think it gives pride to the people that are of the culture and of the non-culture —that are not Hispanics,” Fresquez said. “I think it gives them a lot of understanding of our culture.”
Leila Chapa is the social media editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @lchapa06
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Leila Chapa is the social media editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @lchapa06
