|
Alura Flores de Angeles
|
|
Alura Flores Barnes Canales de Angeles was born in Cuernavaca, Mexico, in 1905 of an American mother and a Mexican father. Her world was always filled with music as her mother was a concert pianist and singer and her father was a singer. Alura, it seems, was blessed with the gift of dance.
Alura graduated from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) with a degree in education. From that time on, she was a dancer, teacher, choreographer, and researcher of the dances of Mexico. In 1928, she started collecting unrecorded dances by going to remote villages as a member of a government-sponsored cultural mission.
In 1952, Alura was invited to teach the dances of Mexico abroad, first at Texas Camp and then San Antonio College. She then taught in other states and at the Annual Erratic Folk Dance Camps in Comfort, Texas. She also lectured at the University of Texas.
In the mid-1960s, Alura began teaching three weeks each year at the University's affiliate campus in San Antonio, and also at the San Antonio College. She also was a visiting professor of dance at various schools and folk dance camps in the United States. Many teachers have been Alura's students, including Nelda Drury and Henry "Buzz" Glass.
Alura was the guiding light behind the Festival Folclorico Internacional (Mexico Camp), held in Oaxtepec, Mexico, about a 2 1/2-hour drive from Mexico City. Each year, from 1971, Alura, with the able assistance of Antonio Angeles (her husband), Nelda Drury, Jane Farwell, Bobbi Gillotti, Manuel and Odi Góomez, and David and Ron Houston, brought in top master folk dance teachers to this complete recreational facility.
At UNAM, her former students included Nelda Drury, Henry "Buzz" Glass, and Avis Landis. UNAM honored Alura in 1981 and the Mexican government honored her in 1982. 1988 marked Alura's 57th consecutive year of teaching at UNAM's Center of Studies for Foriegners.
For many years, Alura coached women's basketball and volleyball. Her volleyball team, representing Mexico City, won six national championships, and three of her players made the Olympics.
When Señora de Angeles' health declined in 1991, Mexico Camp foundered. Alura Flores de Angeles died in July of 2000.
Dances Sra. Alura taught include Azul Cielo, Chiapanecas, Chilena Guerrense, Chuchita en Chichuahua, Colás, El Cerro de la Silla, El Circo, El Jarabe Tapatío, El Rascapetate, El Tranchete, Evangelina, Guerrense, Jacarandas, Jarabe Coahuilense, Jarabe de la Botella, Jarabe del Valle, Jarabe Michoacano, Jarabe Pateño, Jesusita en Chihuahua, Jota Tapatía, La Adelita, La Bamba, La Bruja, La Cápsula, La Chilena, La Danza de los Machetes, La Danza de los Viejitos, La Redova, Las Chiapanecas, Las Copetonas, Las Iguiris, Lucero de la Maña, Mexican Mixer, Mi Negra, Mosaico Mexicano, Polka Alegre, Santa Rita, Sonajeros, Tilingo Lingo, and Zapateado Veracruzano.