By Natalie Taylor
In my column in Atencion I have been writing about art in San Miguel de Allende. Each week I tell a story of the city’s ancient history of art, and on alternate weeks I feature one of the current artists. The old and the new come together to give a sense of the legacy of art in San Miguel. Recently I met someone who, through his art, not only creates a bridge between the old and the new, but also between the United States and Mexico.
David Hart, known as Pachi (a friend gave him the name, because he resembles Al Pacino), is a rock musician, a guitar player, and a singer. He was born in Grayslake, a northern Illinois rural community. For a long time he was involved in corporate endeavors, and was a lead singer for a group, but neither his work nor the weather was to his liking. In 1995 he moved to Hawaii, met his wife Kay, and ran a scuba diving company for many years. Throughout this time, he stayed involved in music, and produced several musical videos.
Eventually he came to a point where he questioned whether he wanted to keep working for the rest of his life. In Hawaii, that is what he would have to do. So in 2017 he decided to reinvent himself and his life once again. He and his wife moved to San Miguel de Allende, and here he became fascinated with the ancient tribal dances he witnessed on the streets. One of his songs, Jealous Little Minds, seemed to be the perfect background for such ancient dances. Pachi envisioned indigenous dancers performing to his tune, but he wanted to be respectful, and to honor the dancers and their traditions. He went to a meeting with the top elders to find Chichimeca dancers and musicians who would be willing, and interested in doing a joint musical video. Here he met none other than Manuel Cabrera Hernandez—“El General”—the chief himself. El General loved the idea of a cooperative musical video, and gave his blessing to the project. He said he was happy with the exposure it would give his tribe. He wants the young Chichimecas to be proud of their ancestry, and to have them realize that they can bring the old traditions into a new setting—a music video, or a film. That their ancestry is valuable, and it is appreciated. “I want the young to realize,” el General said, “They can do anything they want.”
The result is a wonderful short video, with Pachi’s music and lyrics as the background, and the dancing of the Chichimeca danzantes. It is inspiring and unique on so many levels. It is filmed in the open air, at Rancho Xotolar, with the backdrop of open skies, mountains and deep ravines, and the typical vegetation of the Bajio region. Instead of the streets of a city where they often perform, the dancers are in a natural environment, a place where their ancestors have performed these dances for centuries, it is both harking back to the past and a hand extended into the future.
El General is the head of the mesa general del Señor de las Maravillas—the general board of the Lord of Wonders, which is represented by a statue that dates back to 1736. Just like the statue of the Lord of the Conquest in the Parroquia of San Miguel de Allende, it is made of corn paste with the technique used by the same crafters from the state of Michoacan. El General explained that the dance they perform in the video is el baile del sol y claridad de vida—dance of the sun and the clarity of life. He explains the connection in that it is the sun that brings us light every morning, and with that, comes clarity, in a physical sense and a better understanding of the meaning of life.
Jealous Little Minds was directed by Fernanda Mosqueda, of Broken Mold Studios, a native of San Miguel. The video was submitted to the Cannes Short Film Festival (an offshoot of the Cannes Film Fest) and is one of their top ten videos. Pachi gave me his thoughts on this project: “In art, the challenge is always to transform the old into something new and unique.”
You can reach Pachi at harthawaii@aol.com The video is on YouTube: (131) PACHI – JEALOUS LITTLE MIND (Official Selection Cannes Short Film Festival ) – YouTube
Natalie Taylor: BA in English Lit and Journalism, Loyola University, Chicago, 1995. MFA in Creative Writing, Vermont College, Montpelier, VT, 1999. Published writer, editor, journalist. Spanish teacher in the US, English teacher in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Translator. www.natalietaylor.org Contact: tangonata@gmail.com
