Xdzunúm Danae Trejo

John H. Flindt

Xdzunúm Danae Trejo was born in Guanajuato, México, to a family of artists, where she performed as a singer-puppeteer with live chamber music. She came to dance and physical theatre through teachers Lola Lince and Sigfrido Aguilar, leading her to pursue a BFA in Contemporary Dance at Concordia University (2020). She has written for The Dance Current and Tanz Magazine, and is a member of The Shakespeare Ensemble, maintaining a link to theatre and original practices across continents. She is currently completing a master’s degree in Choreography and Performance at Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, in Germany.

Under the collective name hueco hueco, Xdzunúm, her mother Esther Boles playing the violin, and collaborator Asa Hendry, generate lively points of contact between their varying Mexican, Canadian and Swiss backgrounds. Through puppetry practices, movement and live instrumentation they recount bodies and embody stories.

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reincorporando, a hand made danza a mano

reincorporando, a hand made danza a mano grows from a desire to reveal how heritage lives within a person’s physical expression. The work centres around Xdzunúm’s four grandparents, who were all visual artists: a Mexican painter, a German puppeteer who carved wood, a Mexican ceramist, and a sculptor from the United States. A delicate attention to rural life and a recognition of the liveness of things run through this family. These themes are made tangible through dance, object theatre, and music, particularly a song in Náhuatl.

Drawing on the spirit of Jarocho and Huapango Mexican folk music, the piece draws out quiet dialogues, with the help of a very small calaca (skeleton). Roaming in studios and storage spaces packed with objects—and packed with the absence of the people who made those worlds—the conversation between the animate and the inanimate grows loud, giving shape to this physical synthesis.

©Danae Flindt

CREDITS

Team

Choreography
Xdzunúm Danae Trejo

Performance
Xdzunúm Danae Trejo
Esther Boles
Asa Hendry

Violin
Esther Boles

Light Design
Asa Hendry