“Al Estilo Taquachito”: Theorizing Movement in Conjunto Dance

Abstract

is a site of third space cultural production that emerges in conversation with the discourses of AngloTexas colonialism and Mexicano nationalism. ... Tejano music is a site for the construction of Tejas. ... the music itself comes represent a discursive mechanism for Tejano subjectivitiesDeborah R. Vargas, Bidi Born Bom: Selena and Tejano Music in the Making of Tejas (118)One thing I'm real proud of is my style of music. De aqui, from here, from this area, from this piece of land here. To me, el gusto, el gusto de producer esta musica, viene del corazon. It's not what you play, but who you play for. And I figure that I play for my people-for the people that were born and raised with this certain type of feeling in them that I was lucky enough have been a part of.Tony de la Rosa, Songs of the HomelandTe voy a comprar chinelasY un vestido muy bonitoPa' que bailas la polkaAl estilo taquachitoTraditional, Margarita, MargaritaIt is in the middle of the afternoon and I'm listening Santiago Jimenez, Jr., perform at the Royal Palace Ballroom, deep in southside San Antonio. He's been blazing through any number of polkitas for the past hour and he's not even halfway though his set. Through Jimenez, Jr.'s hands resonates a musical history spanning generations. As he plays this particular afternoon the music he creates forms a sonic landscape which invites-beckons-listeners participate in an act of physical expression and bodily movement called dance. These bailes and tocadas, even in the service of celebration or special occasions, are so common as be taken for granted, their quotidian repetition so commonplace as be ritualistic. Jimenez, Jr., has over six decades of experience playing conjunto. A staunch traditionalist, he plays in a style directly influenced by his father, conjunto pioneer Santiago Jimenez, Sr. The younger Jimenez eschews a drum set, a move unusual by today's standards but the norm through the 1950s, instead relying upon both the bass of his accordion as well as the tololoche for keeping rhythm in his musical homages his father's style of playing. Indeed, aside from his use of a three-row Hohner, electronic amplification, and the occasional fermata, or extended note, played in the style of his brother Flaco to create tension and excitement in his (Ragland 100), Santiago Jimenez, Jr., would not be out of place in his father's ensemble.On this particular day I have invited a few friends join me, and we will take turns dancing Jimenez's rancheritas and cumbias for the next few hours. These tardeadas, or afternoon dances, have been a staple of Mexican-American cultural life for generations. Typically, initially, they were limited the end of the workweek-usually the weekend or, specifically, Sundays-as a way for field and manual laborers enjoy their day off. However, through the course of my fieldwork I have found that in San Antonio one may encounter live conjunto performances seven days a week -a fact that makes it unique, and, as of 2012, somewhat of an anomaly for by all accounts the heyday of conjunto has long since passed. The Royal Palace ballroom hosts acts at least six days a week, every week-most notably conjunto scion Henry Zimmerle on Mondays and occasional Sundays, with other acts such as Bene Medina, Santiago Jimenez, Jr., and the duo of Eddie Lalo Torres and Anita Paez on regular rotation. The weekday crowd ebbed and flowed, with an average of around 150 people dancing year round. This number easily doubled on the weekends, with Sunday's dances after church and brunch attracting more of a multigenerational crowd, with the lone deterrent being winter weather. Not even the Cowboys distracts this football-loving crowd from conjunto-and the tardeadas ended early enough on Superbowl Sunday for everyone sport their team jerseys and leave in time catch kickoff elsewhere.On the outside you wouldn't know it but this squat, nondescript building, in continuous operation since 1975, deserves recognition as a conjunto mainstay. …