Danza in Yuba City

On Sunday, December 19th, Kalpulli Itzkuauhtli was able to travel to Yuba City again to support our community out there with our danzas. Thank you to everyone for your effort and energia in sharing this tradition. The families really enjoyed it and the kids were very excited to be able to dance with us.

Winter Solstice Ceremony

Thank you to Kalpulli Ixtatuhtli for another beautiful Winter Solstice Ceremony on December 18th. Thank you to everyone who made it out to dance and pray together as a kalpulli and community. It was a great way to celebrate our group's 7th birthday!!!

Congratulations to Zoe for participating in her first danza ceremony. A special thank you to our Xilonen, Anicia "Nene" Hernandez, for celebrating her 15th birthday with us in ceremony.

Honorando Nuestra Madre Tonantzin

Thank you to all of our danzantes and to the familia that joined us on December 11th & 12th for all of our events honoring Tonantzin, La Virgen de Guadalupe. Thank to to the Familia Lerma for hosting us out in Capay, the communidad de Esparto for welcoming us there for the first time, the communidad de Sacra and Senora Cobb for another year together at Guadalupe Church and of course to St. Philomene's for welcoming us once again.

Thank you to everyone for all of your hard work during that weekend, and to Evelyn for spending your birthday with us and the community.

Thank You VFW Post 67

Thank you very much to the VFW Post 67, who has agreed to let us start holding practices there. Starting December 6th, practices will be held Monday and Wednesday from 6-8. Thank you to Commander Melendez for supporting our kalpulli in the work we do in our communities and for our youth.

Thank You Mexikas!!!

Thank you to each and every one of you who make up our kalpulli for all of your strength, love, energia, time, and hard work. And of course for being such good friends and familia. Every one of you brings something unique to our group and I'm thankful for all of the times we've shared together and am looking forward to making many more great memories in the future. Love you guys :)

Another Beautiful Ceremony!!!

Thank you to everyone who made it out to the skate park on Friday and Saturday to honor and celebrate our ancestors with us. Thank you Xihuacoatl for hosting this ceremony once again. The ceremony was beautiful and full of strong energia and love. Thank you to all of our danzantes and their families who spent the night and next day with us. It is so important that these tradiciones continue, and our young people are doing a great job of this. Special thanks to Tere, Alex and Yaya who were there bright and early Friday morning to help set up the altar.

Ensayo with Xihuacoatl on Tuesday

Remember Mexikas, tomorrow (10/26) we will be joining Kalpulli Xihuacoatl for one big ensayo before the ceremonia. Please do your best to make it and share your fuerza and energia with everyone.

Dia de los Muertos at Sac State Tonight

Once again, Kalpulli Itzkuauhtli will participate in Sac State's annual Dia De Los Muertos event. This event is a chance for various groups/clubs/fraternities and sorrorities to gather and create their own altares to share with the campus community. Please come out and join us to learn more about this beautiful tradition and support this type of cultural event.

Itzkuauhtli...we dance at 6, so please be there dressed by 5:30 at the latest. We meet in the University Union. Parking in structure 3, level 3 is free for the event. See you tonight.

Sugar Skull Workshop on Sunday

We'll be hosting our annual Sugar Skull Workshop at Ev's house on Sunday! Please check in tonight at practice for time, supply donations etc. Looking forward to creating these ofrenditas for our antepasados and to decorate our altars. See you tonight.

Itzkuauhtli at CSUS M.E.Ch.A. Youth Conference

Thank you to everyone who made it out to the the Youth Conference at Sac State yesterday to represent our cultura and tradicion for our youth!!! Thank you especially for being flexible and staying longer and dancing more than originally planned. The danza was well received and you all did a great job.

Thank You Itzkuauhtli!!!

Thank you to everyone who made it out to the danzada yesterday to support Ev and her familia. Special thanks to those of you who had to arrange time off work and school schedules. It's always great when we can come together and support each other during hard times. Thank you to Eve and the fam, for allowing us to honor your grandpa by sharing our traditions.

Funeral on Wednesday...10/13/2010

As most of you have heard by now Evelyn's grandfather Phil Medina passed away last week. We have been asked to dance at the gathering after the funeral which will take place on Wednesday at the VFW hall on Stockton Blvd. We'll meet up at 2 and dance shortly after. I realize that some of you have work or school and understand if you can't make it, but for those of you who can, please let me know. Let's support our comadre and her familia :)

Latin Music & Arts Festival

Thank you to everyone who, after a LONG day of ceremonia, still headed out to the Latin Music & Arts Festival to represent our culture and tradicion. You guys are the greatest!!!

Congratulations David!!!

Congratulations to David for doing a great job at the ceremonia on Saturday!!! Thank you to everyone who made it out to show your love and support for our Guerrero and our kalpulli.

Ceremonia de Guerreros

This Saturday, October 2nd, Kalpulli Itzkuauhtli will once again attend the Guerreros ceremony hosted by Chuy and Quetzalcoatl-Citlalli. This year we will be presenting David Jose Ornelas as our "Guerrero" for the year. David has been dancing for three years. During this upcoming year he will work on not only his dancing and singing, but will also focus on his obligations to his kalpulli, familia and community. As a Kalpulli, we're proud of how far he's come and are looking forward to working closely with him during this next year.

Ceremonia con Grupo Mictlan

Thank you to Ruben, Monet and Yaya for making the trip out to San Jose to represent Kalpulli Itzkuauhtli at the velacion and ceremonia. Thank you also to Capitana Irene, Esmer and Raquel of Kalpulli Xihuacoatl for traveling out there as well. Grupo Mictlan hosted a beautiful ceremony and made everyone feel welcomed.

Ceremonias This Month

This month we're hoping to attend two ceremonias in the bay area. The first will be this upcoming weekend in San Francisco with Kalpulli Xuicoatl, and next weekend will be in San Jose with Kalpulli Mictlan. We'd like to make sure we're able to send gente to both of these ceremonias, so let's talk tonight to figure out schedules and the ride situation. See you at ensayo :)

Happy Birthday Estevan & Elicia!!!

Happy Birthday to our Alferiz Estevan Rodriguez 8/16 & Elicia De Los Reyes 8/20. Hope this next year is a great one filled with lots of positivity, creativity, opportunity, love and of course danza. Enjoy your days!!!

Ceremonia de Resistencia 2010

This past weekend Kalpulli Itzkuauhtli traveled to LA to participate in a traditional velacion and ceremony commemorating the last battle and heroic defense of Tenochtitlan, by our last Tlatoani Kuauhtemokzin. Thank you to Kalpulli Tlaltekuhtli for hosting the ceremonia and to all the kalpullis that joined us. Thank you to Tere, Monet, Rozco, Jeanette, Maya, Yaya, Patty, Yuri, Elicia, Ixi, Ruben, Rosa, David, Mom and Aswut for making the trip down south to represent our Kalpulli. Thank you also to those of you who couldn't make it, but helped out with the ofrendas. Special thanks to Rozco and Ruben for carrying our teopantli and to Raymond for making a trip out to Kettleman City when one of our families had car problems.

Velacion and Ceremonia in LA!!!

Hey Mexikas, as you know we're planning on heading out to LA this Friday for Velacion and Ceremonia with Kalpulli Tlaltekuhtli. We'll finalize plans tonight, but so far I have Vick and Ev driving with Little Yaya, Big Yaya, Nene and Yaya's drum. Jeanette driving with Tere and Maya (leaving late night Thursday). Patty driving with Yuri and possible my sister. Aswut and I driving with my mom, Ruben, Rozco, Monet and manybe Raymond. (Rosa and David will meet us over there.) If you're planning on going and your name is not on this list, please let me know ASAP (text me), also if you're on this list and can't go afterall, please let me know that too. We'll be putting together ofrendas also, so please make sure you sign up to contribute something to the baskets. See you at ensayo tonight :)

Car Wash 7/24/10

Hey Itzkuauhtli Friends and Familia,
This Saturday we'll be out at Long John Silvers on Stockton and Florin from 9-2 washing cars to raise money to travel to LA next month for ceremony and to buy materials for our kids' regalias. Any and all donations are appreciated. Please pass the word on to your friends, co-workers, neighbors, familia etc. and come out ready to scrub some cars. See you there :)

Thanks for a Busy Month

It's been a while since I've posted anything, but I just wanted to take a minute and thank everyone for all the hard work and energia put in over this last month preparing for Xilonen. The ceremonia was beautiful and the Xilonens did a great job. Thank you to everyone who made it to all the daily practices, sewed and cut trajes, worked with Nene on her song and dance, helped out with rides, put together ofrendas, donated food/supplies, carried water and fruit to the dancers and cleaned up. It really was an amazing day thanks to all of you. Congratulations Nene! Looking forward to doing it again next month with our compadritos de Tlaltekuhtli!!!

Practice Situation...

This week we will continue practicing with Xihuacoatl. Next week, we'll be back at our old College Town location. Let's keep up the hard work Mexikas and kick Nene's Xilonen butt! See you tomorrow.

Anicia "Nene" Hernandez-Xilonen 2010

Congratulations to Kalpulli Itzkuauhtli's newest Xilonen, Anicia "Nene" Hernandez!!! Nene will be representing herself, her famlilia, our kalpulli and our mesa for this next year as she marks the beginning of her transition into womanhood. Thank you to her parents, Mom Evelyn, Dad Joe and Stepdad Vick for supporting her in this tradition and raising a beautiful young lady. She is a sweet girl, good student and always willing to help out in any way she can. We're very proud of her and are looking forward to working more closesly with her during this next year. Thank you also to all of the past Itzkuauhtli Xilonens: Erica Cervantes, Chanel Hernandez, Destiny "Yaya" Gutierrez, Dominique Galvan, Angelique Galvan and Monet Gutierrez...Love you ladies.

Change to Regular Practices This Week

This week we will not have our regular Monday/Wednesday practices. Instead, we will be joining Xihuacoatl at their practices on Tuesday and Thursday to start the first of our joint Xilonen practices. Please make an effort to be there and support Nene, as well as Irene's girls, Melissa, Priscilla and Shauntelle :)

Happy Birthday Linda!!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!! Thank you for everything you do for our kalpulli. We love you!!!

Congratulations!!!

Congratulations to Rozco for promoting to Junior High and to Ruben, Nene and Rae'Anne for graduating Junior High and heading on to High School. Love you guys! Keep up the good work!!!

Ensayo 6/17 at Rio Tierra

Tomorrow we will gather with Xihuacoatl at Rio Tierra and hold a joint ensayo in honor of Capitana Tlahuizkalli de la Rosa, Chimalli, Jessica and Yohualli on the fifth anniversary of their passing. Please be present and bring your ofrenditas for the small altar we will set up in the circle. If you need help with transportation, let me know.

No Practice Tonight

Ceremonia de Xopantla in Minnesota

Please keep our Sahumadora Tere in your thoughts and prayers as she travels to and from Minnesota to represent our kalpulli at the Ceremonia de Xopantla.

Multi-Cultural Celebration at Oakridge on Saturday

On Saturday, June 5th, Kalpulli Itzkuauhtli will dancing at Oakridge Elementary School's annual multi-cultural festival. We'll meet up at 12:30 and dance at 2. I know it's a little early, but we'll have new girls dancing with us for the first time and i want to make sure we have plenty of time to get them situated and dressed.

After we dance at Oakridge, Patty has invited us all out to Ixchel's birthday party where we'll offer a couple of dances again. We'll get you Patty's address and directions on Wednesday.

Ensayo Tonight at Rio Tierra

Tonight we will be practicing at Rio Tierra in the north area with Kalpulli Xihuacoatl and our Jefe Pedro. Practice starts at 6:30, so please be on time and ready to dance. Sorry we weren't able to practice yesterday. Xihuacoatl had planned on visiting us, but the school had an open house event, so even our "back up" room was being used. Usually I know about this stuff ahead of time, but with the new principal situation we didn't find out until Tuesday evening. I know, not everyone will be able to make it, but for those of us who can, let's make the most of tonight's ensayo and share some strong energia and lots of love. See you there.

Fundraiser for Undocumented Student Scholoarships

On May 23rd, Kalpulli Itzkuauhtli took part in an event organized by the Dream.Develop.Do. organization. The purpose of the night was to raise funds for scholarships for undocumented college students. Cruz Reynoso, Sick Spits and Brown Buffalo also participated. Thank you to all of our danzantes who made it out for your fuerza and energia. Thank you also to the friends, familia and community members who made the evening a success, and to Sol Collective for use of the venue.

Shotgun Car & Boxing Show

On Saturday, May 22nd, Kalpulli Itzkuauhtli headed out to the first annual Shotgun Car & Boxing Show to open the event. Thank you to everyone who made it out to not only support our community, but also to support Evelyn's familia. Great job Mexikas!!!

Ayakaxtli Workshop Tonight!!!

Tonight we will meet at Oakridge in room 4 to work on ayakaxtlis. Please bring a stick for your handle. The group will provide the gourds, glue, bb's, paints, tools and leather for fringe. If you want to add feathers, you will have to bring them with you. If you already have an ayakaxtli, please come anyways to help out some of our little ones. See you tonight.

Congratulations Estevan!!!

Congratulations to our Alferez, Estevan Rodriguez, who will be graduating from Western Career College this month! The graduation ceremony will be held on Friday, May 21st at the Memorial Auditorium downtown. It starts at two and isn't ticketed. I know some of you are working, but for those of you who can make it, let's head out there and show our support.

Ceremonia in LA

Please keep our Sahumadora Tere and our Sargento Raymond in your thoughts and prayers, as they travel to Los Angeles this weekend to represent out kalpulli at ceremony. Have a safe trip...Tiahui Mexikas!!!

Mesa Quinto Sol at Festival de la Familia

Thank you to everyone who made it out to dance at the Festival de la Familia on Sunday. The energy was great and the danza was strong. It's always great to be able to come together with our Mesa and share these traditions with our gente. Thank you for all of the energy, sweat and blisters. I want to acknowledge and especially thank Maya and Ixi, our two littlest Mexikas who stayed in the circle with us for all of the presentations and helped with the children's friendship dances. And of course thank you to our parents and families for their help and support.

Rozco's Danza Interview

The article below was written up for Rozco's school website. They interviewed him and took pictures.

Rozco Barraza-Gutierrez is a student at Sierra School at Edison and he is also an Aztec Dancer. Rozco began dancing when he was 8 years old. He is now almost 12 years old and has been performing with the same troupe for all these years. Rozco’s group performs anywhere from 3 – 4 times each month for many types of occasion. Some examples include: birthday parties, holidays, retirement parties, parades, but especially weddings. He is the fifth generation in his family to be trained in this style of dance and practices approximately 4 hours per week.
Rozco states that dancing positively impacts his education because it helps him keep his mind focused and assists him in making good choices. It also teaches him about ancient history and Rozco affirms he has learned a lot about his culture through his dance. Some interesting facts include the following:
The symbol of Aztec dancing is the bird which represents their kupulua (ka-pute-lee), or their group.
The dances themselves always represent something from nature: the movement of the earth, fire, water, or wind.
The uniforms they wear includes many pieces: the headdress (which includes real bird feathers), the chest plate, and ankle and wrist bands. The uniform represents an ancient Aztec warrior.
The dancers also learn to sing in Spanish and Nahuatl.
Rozco also admits that, although it is hard work and learning the steps isn’t always easy, he never wants to miss practice. When asked if he’d rather stay home and watch TV, Rozco replied, “No, it’s like family. The make it fun to go by always baking cakes and by planning special trips. There are a lot of kids my age. There are even kids in diapers!” It certainly sounds like this young man has found a way to mix his learning time with his “fun” time and make it all work for good. Congratulations, Rozco!

Festival de la Familia 2010

Once again, Mesa Quinto Sol will be participating in the Festival de la Familia. We'll meet out in front of Cal-Expo at 10AM and dance throughout the day. We'll be based in our usual spot, the children's activities area and will have our own dressing area. A couple of things to note, please make sure you are in full traje and fully emplumado. If you have a ximalli, make sure you bring it. If you need to make arrangements to borrow something, do it now. Don't forget sandals/huaraches; it'll be hot! Also, please be on time. After 10:30 I will be getting ready, painting faces etc. and won't be able to be running back and forth to get people in. Please remember also, that I only have tickets for dancers, so if family or friends will be attending, they need to purchase tickets. Adults are $10, Seniors are $7 and 12 & under are free. Most importantly, be ready to dance hard and show our gente that these tradiciones are still alive and well today!!!

Today is Earth Day!!!

Just wanted to remind everyone to take a quick moment, go outside, ground yourself and connect with our Madre Tierra. Think about everything she provides for us and how those gifts help us in our daily lives, in our ceremonias and in our tradicion. Also stop to think about how you can help take care of and give back to her, not just today, but everyday.

Ensayo con la Mesa...Last Night & Again Tonight

Thank you to everyone who made it out last night for your energia, fuerza and cantos. Tonight we'll head over to the north area with Xihuacoatl to do it again. I know it's not our regular practice night, but if it's at all possible for you to join us, please take advantage of this opportunity. Most of you have been there before, but if you haven't, they start at 6:30 at Rio Tierra Junior High. See you there!

Cantos y Alabanzas

Hey Mexikas, please remember to bring you song books to practice with you so we can continue practicing cantos after danza. For those of you who are new and don't have books yet, please send me a text to remind me to put one together for you. Remember the cantos are just as important as the danzas, so practice, practice, practice. See you tonight.

Ceremony and Pizza!!!

Thank you to everyone who made it out to the ceremonia this weekend. I know not everyone could make it, but it worked out well even with a small group of us. Sorry for the confusion about pizza after the ceremony. With everyone having different ride situations and all, we weren't able to coordinate it, so we'll have pizza today after practice. Let's try to get there a few minutes early to see how many of us we'll have tonight and to collect a few bucks each towards the pizza. Other than that we'll dance like usual, go over the ceremony and eat afterwards. See you tonight!

Back to Practice on Monday

Hope everyone enjoyed their Spring break and got a chance to recover a little from everything we've been doing. We'll be back to our regular practice schedule on Monday at Oakridge. Also with all of our new gente (and the little ones growing so fast) we'll be scheduling a workshop day or two later in the month. I'll have sign-up lists at practice next week so we can find out exactly who needs what and can arrange to have everyone help out with supplies and/or prep work. See you Monday!

Great Job at the Marcha!

Thank you to everyone who made it out to the Marcha this weekend!!! It was a long day, but everyone did a great job. It was great to have so many groups come together to remember the legacy of Cesar Chavez and show our community that these ways are still alive and going strong. Thank you also to all of our families who came out and supported us with water, snacks, safety pins and their energia. TIAHUI ITZKUAUHTLI!!!

10th Annual Cesar Chavez March

Hey Mexikas, here's the flyer for the 10th Annual Cesar Chavez March on Saturday here in Sacramento.  We'll be meeting at the starting point at 8:30 already in traje.  If possible, have your kopillis done as well.  Please feel free to bring friends and family and snacks to share.  See you there!  

Xipe Totek 2010

Thank you to everyone who made it out to the ceremonia this weekend in honor of our children!!! All of your energia, fuerza and love are definitely appreciated. Thank you to all of our dedicated danza parents and familias for their help with the food, set up, water, donations, clean up, rides etc. Mexikas, thank you for your energia and danzas with us in the circle. A special thank you to those that traveled from out of town to be with us, as well as those from outside of our Mesa. We couldn't have had such a beautiful day without all of your contributions. Thank you. Gracias. Tlazokamatli.

Ceremonia de Xipe Totek

As you all know, the ceremonia will be this Saturday at South Side Park. The danza will start promptly at 11am. Danzantes will need to be there by 8am. Since we are co-hosting this ceremony it is important that we are there to help set up, clean up the park, greet people and still have plenty of time to get ourselves ready. Also remember that you are all expected to help out with the childrens' activities and clean up after the ceremonia. See you bright and early Saturday morning!!!

Practice Tonight and Xipe Preparations

Hey Mexikas, tonight will be our last practice before the ceremonia on Saturday. We'll be at Oakridge, as usual, but we'd like to start a little earlier so we can get in a few more dances. Please make sure you're there by 6, so we can start by 6:15.

Please remember to bring in whatever items you signed up for tonight! Also please remember your $3 for flowers. We'll be collecting it in order to buy the flowers on Friday.

Unfortunately because of work that needs to be done on the heating/AC unit at College Town, we will not be able to gather there on Friday evening. Instead, we'll need about 5 or 6 volunteers to help out with tying yerbas, prepping ofrendas and other small miscellaneous jobs. Please let Tere or I know if you're interested in helping out with this.

Practice Tonight with the Jefe Pedro and Xihuacoatl

First of all, thank you to everyone who contributed to the beautiful altar in Tlahui's honor last night.  We received our Jefe Pedro last night at the airport with some of the flowers from that altar and it meant a lot to him to know that we are continuing to honor her and keep her present in our kalpulli.  

Tonight we'll be practicing at Rio Tierra at 6:30 with Xihuacoatl.  I know some of you have work/school/family commitments on Tuesdays, but if you can make it, please join us.  If we don't see you tonight, we'll see you tomorrow at Oakridge.

Remembering Capitana Tlahuizkalli De La Rosa

Practice tonight will be dedicated to Capitana Tlahuizkalli De La Rosa. She would have been 35 today. Please bring ofrendas of velas/flowers/yerbas so we can set up a small altar in her honor. For those of you who never had the opportunity to meet her she was an incredibly strong young woman who dedicated her life to the danza. Love you mujer!!!

Mexika New Year Ceremonia in San Jose

On Saturday, March 13, 2010, ten of our dancers headed out to participate in a new year ceremony hosted by Calpulli Tonalehqueh in San Jose, CA. Thank you to those of you who made the trip out there to represent Kalpulli Itzkuauhtli and Mesa Quinto Sol. I know it was cold, muddy and windy, but thank you for your energia and fuerza-especially during palabra. Special thanks to David and Rae'Anne for carrying the pantli in that wind and Tere for driving. Tiahui Itzkuauhtli!!!

Dancing in Honor of Dolores Huerta

Thank you to Tere, Monet, Rae'Anne, Dominique, Ruben, Marissa, David, Angelique, Booji and Raymond for your danzas and your fuerza!!! Thank you Mom, Dad and Liz for your energia and support.  Gracias a MEChA de Chico State for the invitation, hope we can make it back out there soon.

Happy Birthday Ady and Avy!!!

Happy Birthday to our little Aztek twins, Adelyna and Avelyna. Three years old today!!! Gracias for all of the energia you share with us, and the little inspirations that you are. We love you girls.

Happy Birthday Raymond!!!

Happy 19th birthday to our guerrero Raymond!!! May the creator bless you with many more happy and healthy years. We love you!!!

Practice at College Town Tonight

Practice will be at College Town tonight instead of Oakridge. See you at 6. If your trajes need alterations or work on them, please make sure to bring them.

Danza at Chico State

Tomorrow afternoon we'll be heading out to Chico State to offer a few danzas for an event hosted by MEChA de Chico State in honor of Dolores Huerta. I'm looking forward to it because Chico has been trying to get us out there for about two years now, but the dates they want always coincide with ceremonia or other events. Plus one of our danzantes, Marissa, left in the fall to attend college there and it'll be great to see her again and share a few danzas with her. Thank you to everyone who will be taking the trip out there with us.

New Sargento

As most of you already know, David has begun preparing for his Guerreros Ceremony in October. In order to focus on his transition and his danza, he has passed the position of Sargento on to Raymond. Please do your best to assist him as he adjusts to this position, especially with all of the little ones in the circle. Raymond, thank you for agrreeing to take this over and best wishes to David for a productive, positive experience in this next year. Love you both. ~Citlalin Valentina

~The Official Website of Kalpulli Itzkuauhtli~

Hey Itzkuauhtli Friends and Familia...

A friend suggested this site and it looks like it'll be just what we need to keep everyone up to date and in touch. So please bookmark this site and refer back to it often. See you at practice tonight. ~Citlalin Valentina