Choreographing Mexico

Before and after the Mexican Revolution that began in 1910, political leaders and intellectuals obsessed over modernity and nationalism. Mexico must join the cabal of modern nations, they determined, and on its own terms—distinguished by rich Indigenous histories and festive cultures. Scholars have shown how the visual and literary arts contributed to this project, and Manuel Cuellar shows how dance and movement helped to formulate lo mexicano (Mexicanness) from the 1910s through the 1940s. Cuellar's focus on Mexican dance and nationalism, as he acknowledges, has many precedents. Yet, Cuellar adds novel insights by examining “regional and traditional dance—known today as folklórico dance”—rather than other theatrical dance forms like ballet and modern dance and by juxtaposing case studies from before and after the Mexican Revolution that appear in diverse platforms like parades, festive fairs, mass dances, and film (p. 5).Although only mentioned in the epilogue, Cuellar challenges the presumption that folklórico dance has been “noncritical and complicit with hegemonic formulations of Mexican nationalism” (p. 228). Cuellar never cites specifics, but presumably this reputation stems from the relationship forged between folklórico, tourism, and post-1940 Mexican presidents, as evidenced most famously by Amalia Hernández's Ballet Folklórico de México founded in 1952. Cuellar, however, focuses on earlier decades when folklórico embodied more diverse meanings of Mexico and choreographed more complicated relationships to power.The overarching argument is that even as folklórico furthered nation building, the bodies and movements involved often slipped out of line, defying absolute control and muddling official discourses. As one example, in chapter 1, Cuellar describes the tensions surrounding the Indigenous people recruited to participate in El Desfile Histórico (The Historic Parade) during Porfirio Díaz's centennial of 1910. Although the parade activated an exclusionary version of history, nationalism, and modernity, the Indigenous peoples marching through the streets suggested alternative communities and identities of modern Mexico. Moreover, audience members contributed to these counternarratives. Cuellar examines historical footage of lower-class folks watching dynamically, jumping and dodging to catch a glimpse of the parade. He theorizes a mobile sociality between the lower-class, possibly Indigenous onlookers and the Indigenous parade performers. In this example and others drawn from chapter 2, on the elite-imagined and popularly enjoyed fair La Noche Mexicana in 1921; chapter 3, on choreographer and writer Nellie Campobello's oeuvre; and chapter 4, on folklórico dances on film in the 1930s and 1940s, Cuellar shows how in contrast to literature or the visual arts, moving bodies risk gesturing to something outside official visions of Mexico. In other words, he reminds the reader why dance is important and what it can tell us that other art forms cannot.Chapter 3, on choreographer and writer Nellie Campobello, does a particularly good job of illuminating another goal of the text—to “use queerness as a methodological intervention” (p. xi). This queerness points not only to dancers defying gender norms but also to elusive sources like ephemeral movements or sub-rosa recordings. Campobello danced the male part of the famed jarabe tapatío (known as the Mexican hat dance), with her sister Gloria as the china poblana. Nellie Campobello also embraced the typically more masculine role of choreographer, creating a famed paean to revolutionary fighting in the 1931 mass dance El ballet simbólico 30-30 (The symbolic ballet .30-30). Named for .30-30 rifles, this martial ballet subverted expectations of masculine bravura by recasting women as igniting the armed struggle. Then, after two men held the position, Campobello became director of the Escuela Nacional de Danza in 1937 and continued until 1983, leaving an indelible mark on the consolidation and professionalization of folklórico. Cuellar shows how Campobello's cross-dressing, choreography, and leadership reaffirmed masculinized mestizo discourses while also having a queer subversive quality. Moreover, Cuellar utilizes a “queer generative approach” to analyze the only existing recording of Campobello's voice, captured when dance researcher Patricia Aulestia hid a device under her poncho to tape a 1972 interview (p. 129). Although queer methodological interventions only appear sporadically in the book, chapter 3 does a particularly good job of illuminating nonnormative performances and sources.As an interdisciplinary work at the intersection of literary, cultural, performance, and queer studies, Choreographing Mexico will appeal to graduate students and scholars interested in Mexican nationalism, cultural histories, and dance. Indeed, for scholars across several fields, Cuellar provides a model for connecting thick description of movement to unfolding arguments. Jargon and dense, repetitive writing make the book less accessible to undergraduates or general readers and may alienate some scholars. Despite these stylistic issues, Cuellar has produced engaged and passionate scholarship. A photograph of Cuellar in performance adorns the cover, and his decades of dancing folklórico in Mexico and the United States make up the preface and epilogue, reminding readers that dances shape the lives of individual dancers and larger national and transnational communities

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