San Juan Ocotepec is a small village on the slope of Popocatepetl volcano. Traditional dress is limited to a few elderly ladies. There was traditional dance at the town festival on June 24th; interestingly the dancers were mostly women.
Bob Freund 6/25/2005 For more information contact: info@mexicantextiles.com

Return to Nahuas of Popocatepetl Home Page

page 1 of 3 Next

 

1_king_moors 1_map_ocotepec 1_nahua_dancers 1_nahua_ocotepec
1_nahua_ocotepec1 1_ocotepec_festival2 1_scenes1 IMG_1353
San Juan Ocotepec is one of those towns that this study lives for unknown not even on any of my man maps. First, I visited the festival at San Juan Tianguismanalco for the San Juan’s day. After the procession there, I decided to go to San Pedro Benito Juarez where I was told there might be some people that still wear a traditional costume. Once I arrived in Benito Juarez, the guy in charge said that it might be possible to find someone there, but the best be was to go to Ocotepec. It was also festival day there; most village festivals start in the afternoon but really get going in the evening. Without realizing it, the two towns are divided only by a street. But I drove around for awhile before I found the road that lead into the town from another direction. The terrain is wonderful, right on the slopes of the volcano and just starting to turn green.

The villagers were preparing to start the Moor’s dance when I got there. It was a small but very friendly place. The dancers started about an hour after I got there. In the mean time the villagers let me climb up the church bell tower where the view was amazing. The guy up there told me that on a clear day you can see 4 volcanic peaks. GRRRR.... to bad it was overcast. The dancers started while I was still up in the tower, from where I shot some video. The nice thing about being so high is that my perspective on all the people at the festival let me see a number of women in traditional dress.