GCSU commemorates Day of the Dead tradition

The holiday Day of the Dead is a Mexican tradition that has been carried on for the past three millennia. Here at GCSU, the celebration has just recently began catching on; according to Roxanne Farrar said the tradition of hosting a Day of the Dead ceremony has been going on for at least five years.

“This event is completely run by the students, all I do is supervise,” Farrar said. “I love getting to see the students take charge and plan such a great event together.”

Students like Laurene Greene, a senior, took part in preparing for the Oct. 29 festivities.

“The Day of the Dead is hosted every year by the comparative aesthetics class in the Art Department,” Greene said. “We study the art of different cultures in the class and this is a great way to immerse ourselves in the Mexican culture. Everyone in the class had a task to do and everyone gives to the offering.”

The offering is a gift to those who have passed, which is the foundation for the entire celebration. Sarah Wood gave a speech about the traditions of the Day of the Dead saying it has an, “atmosphere of intense color, full of excitement.” And rightly so: the event, which was located on the porch of the Blackbridge House, was full of face painting and lively music acting as a celebration for those who have already lived. Some people were fairly new to the whole concept of celebrating the dead, like Jorge Zapata, a faculty member originally from Colombia.

“I know it is a Mexican celebration. In my country we don’t celebrate Day of the Dead, but it’s a very interesting way to show the traditions of Mexico. I also like how it congregates people no matter their origin,” Zapata said.

One of the main parts of this event was the mentioning of names of people who have passed. Associate professor of art Valerie Aranda, who had her face painted in the traditional black and white led this part of the ceremony. Aranda first walked through the crowd with burning incense and then initiated that the names of loved ones be proclaimed. When a name was said, the group would collectively say “presente” to acknowledge that those people were still present in spirit. Afterward, there was a Day of the Dead dance when those who put on the event came out, also with painted faces, in character with canes and shaky stances to dance in a circle to once again rejoice in the dead.

“The typical traditions include music being played, corridos or stories are told, and pan de muerto and sugar skulls are eaten,” Aranda said.

Aranda said that the ceremony might start in a grave of a loved one, but in the modern times it has taken the form of a festival at museums.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Nov 6 2009. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry