Mexico is a country of great cultural and historical diversity. Before the arrival of the Spanish, Mexico and its cultures had many customs and traditions that were celebrated at different times and by different people. With the Spanish, Catholicism arrives and with it many traditions disappear, mainly those that involved the gods of the various civilizations. Only those that could adapt in a certain way to the Catholic religion survived, others were emerging over time.
Today Mexico continues to present that great cultural mosaic in customs and traditions and that all Mexicans celebrate with great joy through various foods, drinks, dance, costumes and much more. The tequila, the mariachis and cleats are recognized internationally as symbols of Mexican culture. And the fact is that the Mexican is happy and a party lover by nature [23] .
Of the various traditions, also in each state of the country they have a variance, according to each population, but with common elements.
Music
After the arrival of the Spanish, the natives learned European music from the missionaries. Many of the Conquest dances that are practiced in the country’s indigenous communities originate from that time; as well as certain genres associated with Catholic worship, such as the Matachines dance and the Concheros son, among others. In Tabasco, in the city of Tenosique, the carnival is celebrated every year, which many say is the rarest in the world. This begins with the dance of the pocho. Endemic indigenous music was also strongly influenced by the dances of slaves and maroon blacks, something that is easier to appreciate in the music of the indigenous communities of Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chiapas and Tabasco, among others.
Internationally known is the mariachi ensemble, associated with the great figures of the ranchera “Mexican song”, which had its flowering period between the 1940s and 1970s. Coming from western Mexico, specifically from the state of Jalisco, the mariachi was originally a folkloric and indigenous group, and their clothing had nothing to do with that of the charro (that is, the costume of the rich cattle ranchers). They performed “mariachi sones” until their arrival in Mexico City, at the beginning of the 20th century. where they transformed (and continue to do so) and began to play “wild songs”, corridos and boleros, adapting them to their style. Lucha Reyes was one of the first figures to record hits accompanied by mariachi. In the “Golden Age” of Mexican cinema, mariachis made themselves known to the world with the films of Jorge Negrete and Pedro Infante. With Javier Solís the bolero accompanied by mariachi becomes fashionable.
The syrup is a continuous succession of sounds and dances (something like a Mexican “suite”) the name comes from the time when the “apothecaries” (pharmacists) made remedies combining various elements called “syrups”. There are the Tapatío, Mixteco, del Valle, Tlaxcalteca, Michoacano syrups, etc.
At the beginning of the 20th century and until the end of the 30s, with the influence of late romanticism, the so-called “Mexican fine song” (term not very clear) had its peak, very much in popular taste, although it was performed by lyrical singers, like Pedro Vargas and Nicolás Urcelay. Some of the most notable authors of this type of song were Agustín Lara and María Grever, influenced by the style of the Mexican and Italian composers of the late nineteenth century.
The bolero, which came from the Caribbean to Mexico via Yucatan, became one of the public’s favorite genres. During the 1940s to 1960s, many guitar trios and harmonized voices, such as Los Panchos, were famous. Recently the bolero has regained popularity [24] .
Among the great singers of Mexican folk music are Óscar Chávez, La Tehua (María del Rosario Graciela Rayas Trejo), Gabino Palomares, Guillermo Velázquez and Amparo Ochoa, who base their songs on indigenous roots and at the same time compose songs dealing with problems of indigenous cultures.
Currently one of the greatest exponents of his music is Ana Gabriel, a singer of great popularity throughout the world.
Painting
According to Shoppingpicks.net, Mexican art has been very fortunate and prolific, since the beginning of the 20th century painters, sculptors and even photographers had the ability to interpret political, social, economic events, and above all create their own styles that gave a unique stamp to Mexican art [25 ] .
Mexican painting in particular, has lived different representative moments with artists whose proposal not only focuses on their style and themes, but on the flagging of ideologies that were carried into all the contexts of their lives.
Mexican painting has achieved world renown with figures such as: David Alfaro Siqueiros, José María Velasco, José Clemente Orozco, Joaquín Clausell, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.
Traditional holidays
The calendar in Mexico contains numerous national, regional and local festivals that are greatly celebrated by each community and that reflect the great spirituality that its residents have as a result of the mixture of the pre-Hispanic beliefs of their predecessors and the imposed Catholic evangelization. by the Spanish conquerors.
Some of the most popular celebrations are the National Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, a Catholic holiday that celebrates every December 12 the message that the dark invocation of the Virgin Mary left for the Mexican people, represented by an indigenous young man, according to the history. With international fame, the Day of the Dead celebrates the day that, under indigenous beliefs, the dead return to visit their living relatives, since death is not the end of life, but a continuation of it in a parallel world.
