Costa Chica of Guerrero - Culture and Education

Culture and Education

The Costa Chica has one of Mexico unique music and dance traditions. Many of the songs and dances reflect the interethnic conflicts of the region over the centuries. One notable music and dance style is called “chilena,” characterized by a stomping dance with erotic movements with participants carrying handkerchiefs, part of Afro-Mexican culture. The songs have themes such as love, the environment, animals, politicians and religion. Another genre is called “artesa,” a type of fandango, which is performed in front of a type of an elongated wooden box fitted with a bull’s head. While the music plays, various couple step up onto the box to dance on it with vigor. The dance has been interpreted as a way to gain a kind of vengeance as the bull-box represents the Spanish. One important folk dance is called Los Diablos (The Devils), which is performed by a group of men in masks with long beards. The dancers are “encouraged” by assistants wielding leather whips. This is performed on 31 October in preparation for Day of the Dead. These devils represent the underworld. Another traditional dance is El Torito, which involves the use of a bull shaped frame on the center dancer with others around him. Other traditional dances of the region include La Tortuga, Los Doce Pares de Francia and La Conquista. These dances feature characters such as Hernán Cortés, Cuauhtémoc, Moctezuma and even Charlemagne and Turkish horsemen.

The region has an active corridor or ballad tradition. One type of corrido simultaneously glorifies and chastises “hombres bragado” (“ballsy men”) who risk their lives often with violence to defend local notions of honor and glory.

Magical practices such as the use of amulets and more to cure sickness and other problems are still found. These practices can be found particularly in very rural Afro-Mexican communities such as San Nicolas and Colorado.

Afromestiza culture does not have its own language and dress but it is distinguished by body language and vocabulary as well as a shared heritage. There have been efforts to strengthen and promote the black culture of the Costa Chica. One of these is the establishment of the Museo de las Culturas Afromestizas .

As of 2000, about a quarter of the population of the Costa Chica region was illiterate, with the municipality of Cuajinicuilapa having the highest rate at 30%. This is despite over twenty years of efforts to improve education in the region.