Flor y Canto - "We are the people of flower and song"

"We are the people of flower and song" - Flor y Canto
Dance, Music, and Art as decolonizing practices, traditions from Mexican and Chicano communities

Monday, March 1st, 2010
4:30 - 7:30pm
at U W
School of Social Work, third floor commons
Please note: This event is intended to be both a celebration as well as educational. Please feel free to come and go as your schedule allows.

Schedule of Events:
4:30: Screening of a short documentary about Seattle Fandango Project
4:45-5:45: Seattle Fandango Project
5:45-6:15: Dinner break
6:15-7:15 Danza Mexica Cuauhtemoc Seattle
7:15-7:30: Closing and Clean up

An indigenous organizer in South America used the phrase "We are still the people of flower and song" within the context of talking about how people resist oppression despite not having mainstream notions of resources. This essential quality characterizes how we mobilize; through the beauty of our cultural forms of expression be they dance, music, poetry or simply sharing time and space. This event is an opportunity to learn about decolonizing processes utilizing traditional yet vital, evolving performance and ceremonial genres.
-Ramona Beltran, Danzante Azteca and Doctoral Candidate, UW SSW

THE SEATTLE FANDANGO PROJECT is dedicated to forging relationships through participatory music and dance. It takes as its original model the fandango celebration of Veracruz, Mexico, in which music, singing, and dancing are used to generate a spirit of convivencia—living/being together—that helps build communication and trust.

The SFP is also a part of a larger, transnational movement called Fandango Sin Fronteras (Fandango Without Borders) that is growing throughout Mexico and the United States and stands for creating healing spaces that build community in opposition to the forces of neo-liberalism, globalization, and hegemony.

DANZA MEXICA CUAUHTEMOC SEATTLE is a community of people dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the Mexica/Azteca culture, ceremonies, warrior dance, history and traditions. Through our sacred danza ceremony, we work to build unity, understanding, mutual respect and harmony amongst all nations. This is done by coming together and supporting one another in struggle for political, economic, environmental, social and cultural justice.