Ashley Perez

Professor Shahrazad Encinias

CAS 113A

28 September 2023

Community Event #1: Cancun Xcaret Cultural Mexican Show

I went to Cancun late September and I went to an Xcaret show. The show started at
around 7. As you walked to the entrance of the show, they had a lot of Mayan people up
representing themselves with their clothes and their torches. It was really packed in there so it
was hard to take a picture without getting separated from your group. Even so, it was really cool
how they showed us that as you made your way to the show. As we got into our seats I noticed
that there were candles being passed around. My sister had the chance to get one and everyone
there helped each other light them up. We didn’t know what it was for, but once she had lit up the
candle, she went around and helped others light theres up as well.
Once we waited for the show to start, everyone had already lit their candles up. When the
lights had gone out, it was beautiful how everything was pitch black, and all you could see
around were the candles. I didn’t know what the purpose of that was, I never really got into
asking someone around me if they knew, but I really enjoyed seeing them. I had told my sister to
make a wish when she blew hers out just in case they gave us that candle for a reason. I honestly
was not expecting what they had shown us towards the beginning of the show. They gave us a
run down of what Mexico was before the US colonized them and forcefully kicked the people
who were already here out of their home. This was eye opening to me, I had already known this
happened, but I never really got much in detail as to why it did and how, so this was new
information I was taking in and the way they portrayed it was phenomenal. In addition to this,
the show also showed us how soccer used to be played back in the day. It was cool seeing how
they put fire on the ball and they kicked it around as if there was no fire at all. “How does that
not burn them,” I asked my sister, but she just simply shrugged and continued watching. It was
funny how we all agreed to cheer for both teams, so if one team was close to making one but
never made it, we would all groan and give them words of encouragement until one of the teams
finally made it.
Another thing I really loved was how they brought out different colored fabrics and were
laying them on the floor. At first I was confused about what they were doing. I looked around
and looked towards my sister to ask if she was confused as well but she had pointed at what was
being shown and I now realized what they were making. They were making the figure of la
Virgen María de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe/The Virgin Mary) out of colored cloth silk
fabrics and it was so cool. When they were done, a picture of her showed towards the stage and it
was honestly mesmerizing to look at. I had never once seen anybody do that before, and it almost
brought tears to my eyes. It was captivating to see how well done they made this, and how
beautiful it was how they chose to show this scene of the show. I could see everyone around me
was in awe of what was made.
The second act of the show, they showed us the different dances there were in Mexico.
Although I don't remember clearly, I remember them showing dances of Oaxaca, Veracruz, and
Michoacan. It was honestly surprising seeing how different states in Mexico dance and I loved
how they showed the difference between them. It was also joyful to see how loud people cheered
when their state came up. It was nice to see where everyone was from and where the majority of
the people were from. What I had really enjoyed most was towards the end of the show, when
they brought out several Central American flags and they started singing this song called
“México en la Piel,” by Luis Miguel. Considering this was their last choice of song, I really
enjoyed how well put the show was. I loved how they showed the history behind Mexico in the
first act of the show, and a more heart-felt moment towards the second act of the show.