By Laura Nesbitt
Mountain View Telegraph
Anita Ortiz could not stop smiling.
She danced the role of La Malinche during the fiestas in Chilili under a clear blue New Mexico sky on Saturday.
About 100 or so residents of the area and parishioners of the church walked and danced up and down N.M. 337, which was blocked off from traffic while gunshots were fired into the air and the church bell was rung by various members of the parish.
During the procession, community members carried the saint from the church to pay homage to Our Lady of Guadalupe, said Annette Ortiz, Anita's mother and deputy county manager.
The old and new mayordomos carried the saint while walking under an arch wrapped in white flowers.
The 9-year-old Anita, who will be in the fourth grade at Estancia Elementary School, was wearing her white first communion dress with dollars pinned to the bodice. She held on to the pocket of El Monarca, Jerry Herrera, and danced by one of the capitanes, who are characters making up the matachines dancers, Annette Ortiz said.
According to the Holy Child Parish Web site, the church was built around 1842. There are seven other mission churches like it in the East Mountains, the site says.
“Mission churches are the jewels of the East Mountains,” said Kathy Hanlon, whose husband, Jim Hanlon, played guitar during the fiesta.
The Chilili fiestas began on Friday night with vespers and mass held in the San
Juan de Nepomuceno Mission Church on Saturday morning. There was not enough room inside the small mission church to hold all the worshipers, so about 40 spilled onto the patio outside to listen to mass.
“The mayordomos of the church asked her (to dance). All the dancers were asked to dance. It was a great honor for her to be able to do that. She realized that,” Annette Ortiz said.
Anita knew it was an honor because her grandfather, Albert Pohl, who was born in Chilili, told her beforehand how important the annual event is for the community and for the church.
Annette Ortiz said Anita only had one day of practice to learn the dance from El Monarca, played by Herrera, and Andy Gonzales, El Abuelo, another matachines character.
In the Procession were the old and new mayordomos, who are chosen to take care of the church for one year, and the danzantes, who are more characters from the matachines dancers. All the matachines donate their time and dance at fiestas for free, said the Holy Child Parish Web site.
The outgoing mayordomos were Orlando and Angie Gutierrez and the new mayordomos are Mr. and Mrs. Frank Gutierrez and Mr. and Mrs. Frank Torres.
“I wouldn't even know where to start,” Annette Ortiz said when trying to explain exactly what the fiesta and its characters mean. “When I was little it was something you went to and it was fun. When I got older I found out it was a tradition” that has something to do with warding off evil spirits from the church, she said.
The tradition is passed on through the community's youth, including 15-year-old Jessica Bachicha, who played violin on Saturday, and her brother, 9-year-old Lucas Bachicha, who danced with the other matachines.
Jessica stood by Eddie Herrera, an older member of the community who played guitar.
After the Procession the fiesta lunch was served by the mayordomos and then followed by more dancing that included passing the saint to the new mayordomos.
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