Music: José Pablo Moncayo

Choreography: Aldo Kattón

Length: 8’18”

Dancers: 13

Motion design: Alex Villar

‘Huapango’ or ‘Coatlicue’ (pronounced: Koh-at-lee-kway), is an abstract ballet that uses the music’s propulsive energy to summon the terrifying and beautiful essence of Coatlicue, the Aztec Earth Goddess, whose name means "Serpent Skirt."

José Pablo Moncayo’s Huapango (1941) is a seminal work of Mexican Nationalism. Based on authentic Huastecan Sones (traditional regional music & dances), the score is an explosion of joyous and shifting rhythms that have made it an unofficial second national anthem of Mexico.

Coatlicue is the quintessential symbol of cosmic dualism: she is the mother of the Gods the life-giver, and the insatiable devourer of the dead. She is simultaneously creation and consumption, the fertile earth and the grave.

*Photos by Tom Rodriguez.