A public pre-Hispanic ritual took place at Ram Plaza as a welcome gift to the new students, celebrating the cultural diversity at City College.
In the Otomi culture, an Indigenous people from central Mexico, dance is a rhythmic prayer. A barefoot body movement to express gratitude to Mother Nature for the miracle of life and for wisdom.
That was the inspiration for the dance group “Danza Xitlalli” in their traditional Ceremonia Azteca, Aztec Ceremony, held at Ocean Campus on Sept. 2. A ritual composed of dances of Aztec and Otomi origin, guided by ancestors’ drums and the scent of incense that recalls the green fields of Mesoamerica.
Out of respect for the ceremony and its significance, pictures and videos were banned during the dance ritual or when the dance points to the four cardinal directions.
One of the dancers said the source of knowledge is a path that begins with the four Earth elements and the wisdom of the pre-Hispanic ancestors, and continues on City College’s campus.
“I graduated from City College in 2001. I had the blessing of professors here at City College who catapulted me into a career,” said Xabela Sanchez, a member of Danza Xitalli for 35 years.
Sanchez also emphasized that City College gave her the opportunity to learn more about her own culture and to develop an identity that connects to that culture as a foundation of strength and empowerment.
“Also… To have others come with me to be able to find their place in this campus, in life in general, through tradition, in Cultura,” Sanchez said.
The Ceremonia was more than a pre-Hispanic welcome ritual for new students.
For Andrew Moreno, a City College student of Latino origin with a Salvadoran mother and a Mexican father, those kinds of ceremonies are important in order to create a space where everyone can feel included.
“People should be able to feel like they are represented, and they are seen and heard. So this is a great opportunity just for everyone to see,” Moreno said.
At City College, students like Moreno have the opportunity to take ethnic and Latino studies to see the past through a different lens, while also helping many students understand and reconnect with their ancestors.
“Most of the time we get the narrative that our people were primitive and that they weren’t,” Moreno said.
At the end of the ceremony, the members of Danza Xitlalli invited the audience to dance with them, holding hands in a line that moved like a snake, an important animal in pre-Hispanic culture.
“I loved it. I think it’s really great to celebrate different cultures and to be able to participate and dance,” said Jose Alberto Hernandez Torres, a City College student from Mexico. For Torres, the ceremony helps him appreciate representation and learn about the history and background of many Latino students.
