Fire-art in Oaxaca

My thanks to Yossi and Edna, a sparkling couple.

Music, fireworks, and art are embedded in the tapestry of life in Oaxaca.  Throughout the day, we are never far from a source of energetic music.  At night, the smallest celebration can generate loud booms and colorful flashes. Artists are attracted to this city, and their work is displayed in sidewalk stalls and fancy galleries.

So, what happens when three prominent Oaxacan artists collaborate to create a musical fireworks display?   Like Oaxaca itself, their creation was a mixture of tradition and creativity.  Colorful, loud, and so unashamedly naive that I could not help but love it.

The spectacle took place in the large Plaza de la Danza.  When we arrived, much of the audience was already seated on the stone bleachers built into the hillside.  Bright floodlights illuminated the carved facades of the colonial churches that flank the square, and the village lights in the valley below provided the backdrop.  At the designated start time, workers were still clambering up the scaffolding to hang the soon-to-be-lighted works, yet the audience which was busy buying dulces (sweets) from the circulating vendors, displayed no signs of impatience.

Eventually, the lights dimmed, and a wind ensemble began playing a fusion of atonal, modern-style music, and local traditional melodies.  After the prelude, the dramatic staccato sounds continued to accompany the light show.  A loud swoosh, and a long tunnel-like structure erupted into sparkling light.  Visible inside were models of a hare and a tortoise. Propelled by colorful rockets they rolled on to the floor.  Unfortunately, the story of the chase was not too clear since, despite the assistants frantic efforts, the hare turned to the right, while the tortoise insisted on going left.  As the flames of the first display wound down, the scaffolding evolved into fiery scenarios of sea and air. On the floor below, traditional fire dancers whirled with the music.  Fire dancers carry over their head large paper-mâché figures of animals, decorated with burning, swirling and exploding fireworks.  The scene concluded with a crowd-pleasing white fire-fall tumbling from the top of the church.  For the show's finale, we were treated to large airborne rockets.

A couple of summers ago, along the Vancouver shoreline, Adi and I watched an international fireworks competition.  Each night, a different country tried to increase the "Wow factor".  The amount of gunpowder ignited in the first salvo of each show, exceeded by far the whole of the Oaxaca event.  However, judging by the behavior of the Vancouver audience, the awesome display did not replace the stress generated in the overcrowded environment.  In Oaxaca, the happy faces of families, leisurely chatting their  way out of the plaza, were clear evidence that satisfaction is not a function of the money spent on state-of the-art rockets.  In Oaxaca, relaxed living and unsophisticated expectations result in people that are always ready to accept and experience pleasure.


Below is a clip of the event.
ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwl0BuPo3TA