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jennifer rose

Dec 26, 2002, 1:08 PM

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Great Balls of Fire...and more in Tzintzuntzan

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Saturday, 28 December, at 6 p.m. (en punto). At the yacatas in Tzintzuntzan.

The city of Tzintzuntzan, the Michoacan State Secretary of Tourism, and the National Institute of Anthropology and History invite the general public to the exhibition of the pre-Hispanic games of the Purepecha culture -- la “uárukua” or “pelota encendida." Yessir, that's the famous hockey-like game with the flaming ball of resin.

The event will begin with the presentation of the Council of the Elders, a brief historical summary, pre-Hispanic dances, and pirekuas.

Dress very warmly, because it can get very, very cold up by the yacatas.

This is my very favorite event of the year, and it trumps an invitation to even the very best party in town.

Estanislao

Dec 26, 2002, 2:21 PM

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Re: Goodness, Gracious (nfm)

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--
"It is advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back to the tide pool again."
John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts - The Log From The Sea Of Cortez
--
Estanislao

rick

Dec 27, 2002, 8:44 PM

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Re: [jennifer rose] Great Balls of Fire...and more in Tzintzuntzan

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we are kind of relying on you then for pictures of this flaming (puck would it be?) thing

wendy devlin

Dec 28, 2002, 1:48 PM

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Re: [rick] Great Balls of Fire.. in Tzintzuntzan...great show!

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Took in this 'show' last year....what a great ambience...as dark fell...the only lights at the pyramid site were torches blazing on the steps...and small bonfires burning in the four corners of the 'ball court' ....then came the parade of dignitaries, the elders along with a young woman swinging an incense burner, then the players( men with red head scarves and white clothing) then the band(of course with a tuba!)

First there were plenty of speeches, then the folkloric dances( sort of like Tarascan clogging to me) then the 'juego de fuego'...it reminded me of my grass hockey days...since the players swung carved wooden sticks to hit a ball of flaming ?...maybe Jennifer knows what they hit....looked like some kind of layered ball soaked in black tar....highly flammable.

SO...the guys are hitting this ball and it's flying from one end of the grass 'court'...which by the way only has one blocked side...the pyramid itself....the other three sides are open...so this ball flies every which way....catching the player's clothes a bit on fire, and the grass too. The grass is short and dry and the fire burns out quickly...but the court is ablaze with small fires among the torches and the bonfires....Of course, it gets quite exciting everytime the ball rolls into the audience...people scream and scramble off their chairs or jump out of the way....

By this time I've lost Arbon....he's wandered off taking photos of everything...it's every spectator for themselves...I find myself thinking that my Sliammon first nation neighbours would take to this game like a ...you guessed it...moths to a flame!

About half an hour of fiery fun later...everyone is invited to drink hot ponche in ceramic cups...it's been brewing all afternoon...I got the list of ingredients from one of the ladies stirring the huge ceramic pots over the open fires....about 13 different fruits...if I remember rightly.

So Jennifer, how was the show this year? Saludos Wendy

jennifer rose

Dec 28, 2002, 10:34 PM

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Re: [rick] Great Balls of Fire...and more in Tzintzuntzan

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Sorry, Rick. No pics coming from me. This event was for ME, and I don't take photos for pleasure or proof that I've been somewhere.

Frankly, if I had my way, all cameras would be banned!

jennifer rose

Dec 28, 2002, 10:45 PM

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Re: [wendy devlin] Great Balls of Fire.. in Tzintzuntzan...great show!

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Tonight’s presentation was simply awesome. Wendy’s description is pretty close to the mark. (You were there last year, and you didn’t say hello to me? I was the one wearing totally inappropriate clothing, because I didn’t have time to go home and change.)

We arrived just in time to grab a chair, and lo and behold, the folks sitting next to me used to live on my street. Michoacán is a very, very small town in many ways.

Last year’s crowd was smaller than the year before, and this year’s was much larger. The Italian Ambassador to Mexico was there, along with tourists from America, Canada, Phillipines, and various paises de Europe.

Fewer speeches than usual, and only in Spanish this year. No banda – only traditional music. There was a celebration going on down in the town of Tzintzuntzan, and the music wafted upward to the yacatas in a surreal competition, bridging the past and the present pleasantly.

More dancing this year than last.

The moment when the Purépecha elders light the fire, bringing in light to the world, heralding the coming year, always is a special moment of spiritual significance to me --- it’s my own new year.

And the players – professionals from Santa Fe de la Laguna – played several games instead of only one. The ball, which in previous times had been made of burning resin, is wooden, soaked for a day or so in gasoline.

Of course, the traditional pozole batida and ponche followed, but I had a dinner engagement in Patzcuaro to meet.

The “real” Fuego Nuevo of the Purépecha will take place on 1 February in San Juan Nuevo, near Uruapan this year, and the public is invited.

wendy devlin

Dec 29, 2002, 11:07 AM

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Re: [jennifer rose] You were there last year too...

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... and you didn’t say hello to me...either. Ha! ha!

I remember wondering if we would recognize you if we saw you...limited as we were to a vague description from the internet...something...like.... tall gringa with blond hair.

But get this....since we were at the ruin site several hours before the ceremony began...thanks to our first use of a Mexconnect presspass...

I was seated in the middle of the chairs, second row from the front. While waiting for the ceremony to begin, I was chatting with a young couple that we had met walking down by the lake several towns away from Tzintzuntzan. We had ended up, spending a wonderful afternoon together and going out to eat together in Tzintzuntzan. Afterwards, Arbon and I invited them to come with us up to the ruin site. They were both anthropologists, he from Guadalajara and she from Holland. And both were living and studying local mango production in Cihuatlan, not far from Melaque where we were living. That seemed to be a little coincidence.

Anyhoo...while sitting there waiting for the show to begin...I must have mentioned Powell River, our town in Canada...because suddenly a blond gringa sitting in front of me...swirled around and asked if by any chance I knew Wendy Devlin from Powell River.

A Stanley-Livingston moment-LOL.

Turns out, the gal and I had once exchanged numerous emails....while she and her anthropologist husband lived and worked with another First Nation group near our town.

Sometimes, it is a small world...afterall. Glad you had a good time

Wish we were there. Wendy