Death and Victory of Hun Hunapu

*At Xcaret Park`s Esplanade and Main Plaza
The Hum Batz Group presents La muerte y triunfo de Hun Hunapu [Death and Victory of Hun Hunapu]
**Pre-Hispanic instruments and indigenous dances in conjunction

By Alejandra Flores

When the tun kul sounds, the clay ocarinas and reed flutes blow in ancient winds; then the flageolet sighs in lament and rattlesnake rattlers begin their historic dance. This is how the Hum Batz Group, a handful of young people from the county seat of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, tells this ancient story during the 3rd Life and Death Traditions Festival, Xcaret 2008.

The Death and Victory of Hun Hunapu is the title of the spectacle of pre-Hispanic music and indigenous dances that Hum Batz will bring to Xcaret Park`s Esplanade and Main Plaza from October 30th to November 2nd, 2008.

Hum Batz` director, Ricardo Delgado, explains: "It is important to ask permission before starting any type of celebration. That is why we sound the conch shells and perfume sites with copal incense; this is how we greet the Mayan lords of the four cardinal points and ask their permission to proceed.  Only in this way may we celebrate with music and dance."

For this year`s festival, Hum Batz will offer the esteemed audience a show divided into four movements.  During the first movement, they will interpret Kam Peel Pax, a play composed of oral tradition set in the community of Ah Tun Chi, a dairy farming area located in the recently formed Tulum County.  The second movement is comprised of the Danza de la lechuza or Dance of the Owl, whose choreography is based on the "Dance of the Birds" suggested by traditional Maya Pax musicians, which to depicts the ancient saying that "when the owl sings, the native dies".  The third movement is the Danza de Hu Hun Hunapu (Dance of Hu Hun Hunapu) based on the Sun Dance or Dance of Pakal created in Palenque, Chiapas, a reference to both the dance interpreted by Lord Pakal and his son, Bah Lum, and the Ball Game dance, where Hun Hunapu is victorious over the lord of Xibalbá.

Hum Batz` presentation will conclude with the musical Lol Tun (Stone Flower), an original play and scores by Jacinto Ek, a traditional Maya Pax musician from Oxtonkah, Yucatan. This musical theme, concludes Ricardo Delgado, recreates the singular beauty of one of the region`s loveliest cenotes (deep wells or sinkholes), where there are still remains of Itzae Mayan temples and paintings.  "Water dropping from the stalactites turns Lol Tun cave into an authentic sound cavern, so we try to recreate the ancient power of wind and wood instruments."