Gloria Navarrete: Ambassador Of Dance, Traditions, And Joy

By Natalie Taylor. Photo by Lander Rodríguez

Gloria has a deep, life-long connection to the community of San Miguel de Allende, the place of her birth. Her first separation from San Miguel awakened her dedication to the town of her birth and her love for its culture and traditions. Her parents separated when she was seventeen, and she moved to California with her mother, and went to high school in San Jose. Those years were quite painful because she missed her friends and her hometown. When her mother decided to return to San Miguel, Gloria was happy to go back. While working for Seguro Social on Umarán, but also began to take folkloric dance classes at Bellas Artes. She became good friends with Mascha Bello, an accomplished dancer and instructor at Bellas Artes. When Carmen Masip became the director of Bellas Artes in 1972, Mascha was invited to teach dance once again, but she would only do so if Gloria were also contracted to teach folkloric dance. This led to Gloria’s permanent involvement in dance, and in 1975 she founded the Ballet Folklórico de San Miguel de Allende.

Gloria brought her folklore dance troupe to many locations throughout Mexico and the US, showing off the lively dances and the unique elements of San Miguel, such as the mojigangas. In 1980 they went to the Expo at Tijuana representing the state of Guanajuato and received an award for their performance.  In the 1990s Gloria spent several months per year teaching dance in Dallas through a Cultural exchange program. She did this for almost five years and during this time became the co-founder of the Casa Guanajuato; a cultural center in Dallas that still exists with the objective of promoting typical dances, including pastorelas—traditional humorous plays that are put on during the Christmas season. For this work, she earned a recognition from the governor of Guanajuato.

While involved in folk dancing, Gloria became aware of old dances and traditions that were being lost. One of the old traditions is the San Miguel Alborada—dawn—dedicated to Saint Michael, the patron saint of the city, at the end of September. The archangel is represented with a sword which he holds over Satan, usually depicted cowering at his feet. The festival highlights the triumph of good over evil, and is a raucous celebration that beings, as the name implies, at dawn.

The festival was started in 1925 by workers of the textile factory La Aurora, now an art center. Those workers began the celebration of Saint Michael with festivities that started in the middle of the night with music, food, and drinking. Originally a cannon was fired at 2 am, which was eventually replaced with fireworks that awakened the whole town. The entire group then begins its noisy procession into town ending at the Jardin Principal in front of the Parroquia, when at 4:00 a.m. the bells announce the true beginning of the Alborada. The crowd goes wild with noisy cries, singing, and dancing while all kinds of fireworks light the sky.

Gloria’s dedication to the traditions of San Miguel have resulted in the establishment of an organization she founded in 2001, Costumbres y Tradiciones de San Miguel, which attempts to compile and preserve the customs and traditions of the city. She realized that the Alborada was one of the most colorful and important festivals specific to San Miguel. However, because of the ungodly hours, the drinking, and the often rowdy behavior, it was not a festivity for everyone. Yet it was a tradition that needed to be remembered and attended by all. Therefore in 2001 she and a few others began a new tradition—the—a preview of the event one week before. This version takes place at a reasonable hour but it is just as lively, with the participants walking through the city streets, carrying colorful stars, accompanied by mojigangas, finishing their journey in the Jardin Principal. It is a family-friendly event in which adults, children, and the disabled can participate. All the participants--adults and children, love it, and it has become one of the most celebrated festivals.

Gloria Navarrete continues her work in the community. This year she celebrates 50 years of the Ballet Folklorico and 25 years of the Reseña de la Alborada. Her advanced years do not seem to stop her in any way, as evidenced by this interview which had to be adjusted to a time after her yoga class. Dance and tradition will always be her passion.

www.natalietaylor.org