By Lili Ramirez
Staff Writer
Cal State Dominguez Hills held a traditional ceremony celebrating Dia de los Muertos and honoring the Mexican culture.
A day that is celebrated all throughout Mexico, is becoming a holiday that is also acknowledged internationally by many other cultures.
The event was held on the campus’ north lawn where different clubs and organizations created detailed altars, paying tribute to people who lost their lives or celebrating important figures in history. They featured sugar skulls, pictures, vibrant colors and flowers accompanied by candles.
Estephanie Garcia, a junior at CSUDH studying kinesiology, shared how the altar created by the Women’s Resource Center directly reflects their values.
“Our altar is about women who have led in the revolution, or movement.” Garcia said, pointing out how they acknowledged women from America, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic. “We are celebrating women who have been leaders and don’t get acknowledged, we all know about Cesar Chavez, [and] Martin Luther King [Jr.], but we don’t know about these women that led something.”
Altars at the event payed tribute to various things ranging from the LAPD, Ayotzinapa 43, honoring the lives of the 43 students in Mexico who mysteriously went missing, influential leaders, and the Orlando mass shooting.
Aside from appreciating all of the hard work that was put into creating these pieces there was also a dance performance.
Along with the altars, face painting, and sugar-skull decorating, the event featured a dance performance known in Mexico as Danza that is customary on Day of the Dead.
Smoke filled the air as a group of dancers dressed in traditional Aztec attire made their way down the walkways to the sound of a drum.
The dancers who performed not only put on a captivating show but engaged with the audience and grabbed volunteers to join them for their last dance ritual, making for an interactive experience.
After the performance, Adolfo Arteaga captain of the Danza team shared what Day of the Dead meant to him.
“[Day of the Dead] is a magnified remembrance of our loved ones because everyday we remember,” said Arteaga. “My mom passed away and there’s not a single day that I don’t remember her, or talk about her.”
Arteaga has been dancing since he was a teenager and expressed the great amount of love and passion he has for dance. He moved to the U.S at the age of 8 and has still followed the tradition despite not being in Mexico anymore. Arteaga shared his feelings of gratitude to be able to perform at Dominguez Hills.
Arteaga concluded his speech with explaining how his already strong connection to Danza is even stronger on Day of the Dead.
“The feeling is oneness,” he said. “You tend to feel tired , hungry, pain- all of these emotions but with the dance and tuning you could somehow get rid of the pain or get rid of hunger or you don’t feel. [You] just feel the essence of the energy and that maintains you with your body, your mind.”
