Overview

This book is a must read for anyone who would like to learn more about Dance in Mexican History. It is an especially important reference for teachers of Mexican Folkloric Dance who would like to incorporate Mexican Dance History into their teachings. Using the time frame of 1325-1910, Martínez-Hunter skillfully gives a brief overview of Mexican history accompanied by an analysis of the dances during this period. She begins by diving into accounts of the Aztec dances in Pre-Hispanic Mexico before and after the conquest. Then, she describes the Dance Dramas that arose when the Spanish began to Christianize the Indigenous people. During the Spanish colonization, Martínez-Hunter notes the ways in which theatrical dances were imported from Europe to Mexico; the influences of the court dances including the pavane, sarabande, and the chaconne which began in the New World and traveled to Europe; as well as the Indigenous, mestizo, Chilean, and African influences on the dances of Mexico. Then, covering the dances during the Independence of Mexico (1810-1821) until the beginnings of the Mexican Revolutionary War (1910-1920), Martínez-Hunter juxtaposes the popularity of the European ballroom dances with the dances of the peasant people known as jarabes and sones. To honor the life's work of Martínez-Hunter all the photographs of the jarabes and sones included in this book feature her dancers of the University of Texas at Austin Ballet Folklorico from the 1970s. They document her many contributions to Dance when she was a faculty member at this institution.

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Sanjuanita Martínez-Hunter earned her bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in Dance from Texas Woman's University. A life-long educator, Martínez-Hunter began her career teaching physical education at Lamar Junior High School in Laredo, Texas and then at the American School Foundation in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. At these institutions she directed the dance teams known as the Lamar Prancers and the Monterrey Darlings while teaching at her own dance studio. Then, she taught at the University of Texas at Austin (UT) as a Dance faculty for over twenty years where she inspired countless students. Here, she was the faculty sponsor for many dance organizations such as the UT High Steppers and El Grupo de Danza y Arte Folklorico de la Universidad de Tejas en Austin also known as the UT Ballet Folklorico. During the politically tumultuous 1970s, Martínez-Hunter was relentless in fighting administration for the acceptance of the UT Ballet Folklorico as a student organization within the Recreational Sports Division. Founding student members of this organization include: Roy Lozano and Michael Carmona. Roy Lozano would go on to dance with the Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández and then start his own professional dance company in Austin, Texas called Roy Lozano's Ballet Folklorico de Tejas. Michael Carmona would direct the UT Ballet Folklorico for many, many years. This writing represents her doctoral dissertation which was completed in 1984 and is entitled The Development of Dance in Mexico (1325-1910). Throughout her life, Martínez-Hunter longed to see her research in print so that it could reach a wider audience. After her death, her niece Gabriela Mendoza-García edited this manuscript as a way of commemorating her life's work.

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