Mariachis, groups comprised of vocalists, trumpeters, violinists, and various bass and guitar players, are today considered Mexico's traditional musical ensemble. Originally from the state of Jalisco, mariachi music transformed itself from a regional to a national music between the 1930s and 1950s. Its accompanying attire is the fancy charro costume for men and the china poblana dress (like the one pictured here) for women. The thriving song, music, and dance culture surrounding mariachi today is the product of pioneering work by Mexican American educators and performers in the early 1960s. Mariachi instruction programs have since grown in popularity across Mexican American communities, with student mariachi ensembles beginning to perform as early as elementary or middle school. But Mexican American musical traditions began much earlier than the mariachi movement—they include styles as diverse as the choir music of the California missions and the corridos and ballads of San Antonio's Rosita Fernández (1925 1997). This china poblana dress, made in the 1960s, belonged to Fernández who, though performing a wide repertoire of Mexican song styles, is most identified with música norteña, rather than mariachi. Her sixty-year career as a local radio, TV, and theater star garnered her the title, "San Antonio's First Lady of Song."
China Poblana Dress
- Description
- Mariachis, groups comprised of vocalists, trumpeters, violinists, and various bass and guitar players, are today considered Mexico's traditional musical ensemble. Originally from the state of Jalisco, mariachi music transformed itself from a regional to a national music between the 1930s and 1950s. Its accompanying attire is the fancy charro costume for men and the china poblana dress (like the one pictured here) for women. The thriving song, music, and dance culture surrounding mariachi today is the product of pioneering work by Mexican American educators and performers in the early 1960s. Mariachi instruction programs have since grown in popularity across Mexican American communities, with student mariachi ensembles beginning to perform as early as elementary or middle school. But Mexican American musical traditions began much earlier than the mariachi movement—they include styles as diverse as the choir music of the California missions and the corridos and ballads of San Antonio's Rosita Fernández (1925 1997). This china poblana dress, made in the 1960s, belonged to Fernández who, though performing a wide repertoire of Mexican song styles, is most identified with música norteña, rather than mariachi. Her sixty-year career as a local radio, TV, and theater star garnered her the title, "San Antonio's First Lady of Song."
- Description (Spanish)
- Los mariachis, integrados por vocalistas, trompetistas, violinistas y varios intérpretes de bajo y guitarra, se consideran en la actualidad como el conjunto tradicional de música mexicana por excelencia. La música mariachi se originó en el estado de Jalisco, transformándose entre las décadas de 1930 y 1950, de música regional a música nacional. El atuendo que la caracteriza es el elegante traje charro para los hombres y el vestido de china poblana (como el que aquí se ilustra) para las mujeres. La floreciente cultura de hoy en día en torno al canto, música y danza de los mariachis es producto de la labor pionera de los educadores e intérpretes mexicoamericanos de principios de la década de 1960. Desde entonces, los programas de instrucción para mariachis se han vuelto populares a lo largo de las comunidades mexicoamericanas, observándose conjuntos de estudiantes que comienzan a actuar tan prematuramente como en la escuela primaria o media. Sin embargo, las tradiciones musicales mexicoamericanas ya habían echado raíces con anterioridad al movimiento mariachi—abarcaban estilos tan diversos como la música de coro de las misiones de California y los corridos y baladas de Rosita Fernández de San Antonio (1925-1997). Este vestido de china poblana, confeccionado en la década de1960, perteneció a Fernández, a quien, si bien interpreta un gran repertorio de estilos de canciones mexicanas, se la identifica con la música norteña, más que con la mariachi. Su trayectoria de sesenta años como estrella de la radio local, la televisión y el teatro le adjudicó el título de "Primera Dama de la Canción de San Antonio".
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
- user
- Fernández, Rosita
- maker
- Tenis, Mr.
- Date made
- 1960s
- Measurements
- overall: 147 cm x 155 cm x 127 cm; 57 7/8 in x 61 in x 50 in
- Object Name
- dress
