Aztec dancing classes shelter community in the High Desert
- Mexi’cayotl Danza, rooted in the Chicano Movement, uses drums and focuses on Indigenous roots.
- Linda Molina’s classes offer a welcoming space to learn and connect with Indigenous culture.
- The classes are a unique opportunity for High Desert residents to engage with Indigenous dance and heritage.
Linda Molina spends her Wednesday nights sandwiched between Saints X Sinners Tattoos and Bea’s Cuts in Apple Valley long after business hours.
She arrives on the scene in the dark, copal incense in hand and an unassuming dark coat over a bright turquoise sarong and embroidered huipil, or Indigenous Mexican garment.
Many of her High Desert neighbors are either in front of a TV set or getting ready for bed. Molina, on the other hand, is busy cultivating community.
She readies an altar at the top of the room as others strap rattling instruments around their ankles called Chachayotes Huesos in the Nahuatl Aztec language. Copal incense gently rises.
Molina is the maestro Danza teacher, a master of Aztec dancing. She offers some of the only Indigenous dance classes in the Victor Valley area.
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Her classes may be small but her work is important, she says. Danza is “a retaking of our cultural heritage.” The resilient act of Indigenous dancing “shares the beauty that our culture carries” and Molina hopes to extend the craft to as many High Desert Latinos as possible.
What is Danza?
There are two types of Danza: Concheros and Mexi’cayotl. Concheros use small Spanish guitars in their performance and incorporate more Catholic church symbolism.
Mexi’cayotl Danza instead uses a drum to accompany the dancing and is rooted in the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and ’70s, Mike Moya said, the primary drummer of the group.
“It was brought to California by Maestro Florencio Yescas in the late ’60s and romanticizes the Aztec empire,” Moya said.
The Apple Valley dancers prefer the non-Eurocentric dance form of Mexi’cayotl that reclaims Indigenous roots and resists assimilation.
Instead of a Catholic altar at the front of the room with crucifixes and holy water, the High Desert group lays copal, Indigenous threads, a conch shell, and jade Mesoamerican figurines on theirs.
Danza is not the same as Native American powwow dancing contrary to popular belief. However, Aztec dancers will often dance at Native powwows as visitors. They may also fill in during breaks or as guest Danzantes.
Ceremonial dances last for three, four, or even five hours at a time.
“It’s such a personal meditation,” Moya said from more than 10 years of experience.
Danza in the High Desert
Molina was first introduced to the resurgent art form at a 2013 March for Monsanto rally.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” she told the Daily Press. “It was so powerful; it moved me to tears.”
She’s had Danza on her mind since that epiphanic day and has been a Danza teacher in the High Desert since 2021. Like many others who practice Aztec dancing, it feels like home to Molina, a place where she belongs.
Molina is inclusive with her group. Class participants do not need to be of Indigenous origin, she said, a common requirement for other Danza groups. There is also no age requirement for her class. Four or five regulars attend her Wednesday class ranging from elementary age to senior citizen.
A typical class
Molina placed the Indigenous altar, or tlachtli, in front of Moya’s standing drum during this week’s practice. Copal incense filled the room with moderate amounts of smoke as the dance practice began at the sound of Molina’s conch shell.
First is a prayer dance called permiso, or permission, that is dedicated to the four directions and the four elements to open up the gathering as a ceremony.
The dancers were then taught the day’s routine, a dance called fuego. Each step of the dance is called a flor, or flower, and is guided by a simple drum beat. For instance, on a 1,1,1234 drum beat, the dancers take the same number of steps in unison with the drum.
Moya led the group in the new fuego dance with a handheld drum while the rest of the class mirrored his footwork. The goal of fuego was to imitate the movement of fire, he said of the steps that extended in every direction.
The dancers smiled at themselves as they made a mistake or finally caught up with the teacher. Repetition is key with Danza. By the end of an hour or so, most participants have an adequate understanding of the routine and are ready to dance without instruction.
The Apple Valley class is only $5 and lasts from 8:15 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. on Wednesdays at 21887 Outer Highway 18 S Suite A, Apple Valley.
McKenna Mobley is a Daily Press reporter and can be reached at[email protected].
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