León, Gto., October 29, 2016.- Members of the Department of Cultural Studies of Campus León of the University of Guanajuato (UG) carried on the Colloquium titled "Matlachines tierra adentro", a space of presentation and reflection of the popular culture, with the mean to study and analyze the dance in different zones of the Mexican Republic, parting from the regions of the state of Guanajuato to Cd. Juárez.

The promoter of the colloquium, Dr. Alejandro Martínez de la Rosa, who also works as Director of the Department of Cultural Studies, highlighted that the importance of these studies to know the heritage in each one of the regions and bring to light the cultural practices in our country, including their analysis and actual context parting from the integration of the new generations. The utility of this research relies on "defining how this dances create an identity parting from the religion and the belonging of earth and region."

The colloquium emanates a network project between the Academic Body of "Ethnochoreology" of the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP) and researchers of Campus León of UG, under the project "Generic complex of Matlachines in Mexico and South United States."

From the University of Guanajuato, the group is led by Dr. Alejandro Martínez de la Rosa, with the research called "Matlachines en San Juan de los Lagos. Antecedentes históricos y su relación con otras danzas", as well as Dr. Victor Hernández Vaca and Felipe Canuto Castillo with "La tradición de Santo Santiago y la danza de Tlahualiles en Sahuayo, Michoacán".

Another invited professor was Dr. Victor Solís Medina of the University of Arts at Aguascalientes with the research "Los Matlachines de Aguscalientes y su simbolismo" and Dr. Daniela Córdova Ortega of the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez with "Las tradiciones en las danzas de Matlachines de Ciudad Juárez."

Among the main conclusions they reached, were that these dances can share elements between one another, as well as have differences in their music, execution, dressing and context.

The colloquium is an initiative of the Academic Body "Actors and emergent dynamics", from the Dept. of Cultural Studies of UG, and they have foreseen as main product the publication of a book on the generic concept of the Matachines, which will be shared with the researchers at BUAP, coordinated by Dr. Isabel Galicia.