How can L.A. keep Indigenous dance circles alive? Ask ‘el general’
LA TimesTwenty-two Indigenous dancers move as one in a circle with a man dancing in the middle. They call him “el general.” Lazaro Arvizu has dedicated his life to promoting Danza Azteca, a spiritual Indigenous tradition from Mexico, in Los Angeles for more than four decades. During the ’70s, a 14-year-old Arvizu first traveled to San Diego with his teacher, Florencio Yescas — widely known for his contributions to Danza Azteca — on a “reconquering” mission to bring danza to the Chicano people in the United States. “I’ve spent most of my life here, and you don’t need to speak English sometimes because everybody speaks Spanish,” Arvizu says. Adolfo Arteaga and his wife, Eva Arteaga, started a circle called Danza Azteca Xochipilli with Arvizu’s blessing.
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