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Friday, October 5, 2007

Mundo Latino exhibit on display at State Fair of Texas

By Marisa Treviño of Latina Lista

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If you’ve been putting off going to the State Fair of Texas because you think it’s too crowded, here’s an unscientific tip — perfect time to go is Saturday afternoon during the Texas-OU game.

Why? Because everyone is in the Cotton Bowl watching the game. Of course, if you don’t get out of there before the game is over you’ll have to deal with a lot of burnt (orange) and scarlet (red) fans but there’s a perfect place to take refuge — the Mundo Latino exhibit.

This year, the theme for the 12th annual Latino exhibit is “El Matador & His Suit of Lights.” The exhibit highlights the proud history behind the pageantry, attire and music of the traditional matador through photographs, actual matador costumes and video.

The history of the matador is very interesting and thanks to the organizers of the exhibit, they’ve supplied us with a mini lesson on these “artists-in-motion.”

“Matadors are considered heroes in Spain. They wear a distinctive costume, consisting of a silk jacket heavily embroidered in gold, skintight trousers, and a custom-made hat.

“There are only five matador suit makers in the world, all of them within a two-mile radius in a section of Madrid, Spain. In the past, there would have been up to 20 people hand-making small parts of the suit. Now, up to 50 are involved and each person works on the specific task of sewing only one section.

“The music of the matador is the pasa doble. The art of the Matador is his stance, the maneuvering of the cape and the style presented in the arena.

“The matador entertains the crowds with a series of maneuvers, or passes, with a large cape; these passes are usually veronicas, the basic cape maneuver (named after the woman who held out a cloth to Christ on His way to the crucifixion.

“The amount of applause the matador receives is based on how close he comes to the horns of the bull, his tranquility in the face of danger, and his grace in swinging the cape in front of the animal.

“The bull instinctively goes for the cloth because it is a large, moving target, not because of its color. Bulls are color-blind and charge just as readily at the inside of the cape, which is yellow.”

The rest of the Mundo Latino exhibit celebrates the diverse cultures embodied under the Latino/Hispanic label. Entertainment ranges from mariachi singers and Mexican folkloric dancers to Tango and Flamenco dancers and guitarists.

Rounding out the entertainment is a Mercado or marketplace where you can buy products from the native countries and the St. Anne’s photo exhibit showing how the Little Mexico section of Dallas looked before progress bulldozed room for skyscrapers. The photos date back from the 1920s to the present.

If you still can’t get to the State Fair this weekend, the Mundo Latino exhibit runs until October 21 and can always be found in the Hall of State.

¡Ole!

Pegasus News content partner: Latina Lista. You can find the main site for Latina Lista, which includes national news and views, podcasts, the store and more here.

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