A short movie about the hereditary and sentimental connection to grandmothers.

Through Time

The connection to the past carries on. Here, witness Coyote through time and space, in celebrating an event long gone.

80 Years Late

I spent part of my afternoon looking through historical photos of Taos, New Mexico. I was primarily intrigued by those of the fiestas.

Fiestas are an annual event to celebrate the patron saint of a village. The practice goes all the way back to Spain.

As I perused the photos I could find online, I was struck with longing. I tried to see familiarity within the faces. Knowing that my ancestors could have been in the crowds. The people are smiling, the ladies are dancing, little girls wait in their prettiest traditional clothes for their turn to take the stage, and do their dances. I could hear the fiddles and the music. The same folk songs that I must have heard a hundred times.

I wanted to be there, wanted to join the party. So I put on my ribbon skirt, my lace top, and my shawl. I combed my hair and tied it in a bun, just like my Abuelita (grandma) Eutilia used to wear hers.

La Marcha is a traditional dance at wedding receptions in New Mexico. This isn't how it's done, but I was a solo dancer today. I was just happy to hear the song, shuffle my feet, and remember how exciting it was when I was a kid to go to a wedding reception.

The women who came before me must surely have had their moments of fun. Imagine with me, if you will, that the aunties have snuck off privately to gossip and smoke!

A woman of epic proportions lying across a landscape.

Early morning light, an antiquated stadium. The double circle skirt in motion in a unique setting.

I find this to be an interesting juxtaposition between the flowing, organic shapes of the skirt and a hard, urban decay setting.