Coming of Age

I got to attend a quicenera this past Sunday and realized that it would be fun to look up the history behind this Mexican celebration that emphasizes the coming of age of a young girl.

There are different aspects to a quincenera -the main event can be divided in two...the church ceremony and the reception.

The purpose of the church ceremony is for the fifteen year old to affirm her faith. The reception is very much the equivalent of a wedding.

Alright, according to what I found in Wikipedia, the quinceanos -which in America is known as a Mexican tradition -ceremony came from the French culture during the 1800s. In Mexico, the time period is referred to as the Porfiriato (this is comparable to the Victorian era in Anglo-speaking countries). Mexico's president, Porfirio Diaz was the one that brought the French celebration of a young girl's fifteenth birthday to the Mexican culture due to his admiration of the French culture.

The different aspects of the reception involve several things. The first one is the changing of the shoes. The meaning behind the changing of the shoes (which is usually done by the father of the quincenera) is to symbolize the transformation from a girl to a young woman.

El Cambio de las Zapatillas

After the changing of the shoes, comes the gifting of the doll. This is when the quincenera gives a doll to a little girl of her choosing (usually a younger sister or younger cousin) which is meant to show the letting go of her girlhood to become a young lady who will no longer think or act as a child.

El Regalo de la Muneca

The next thing that happens is the dance with father and godparents, which is usually opened by the chambelan (the escort) and quincenera and then you have the father cut in, followed by the godparents. Sometimes, it is done the other way around. The father goes first, then the escort cuts in, then the godparents. In this case, the godparent was first followed by her other godparents. Here's a video.

The last dance is the Vals (the Waltz) which is dance by the quincenera court. It is a beautiful dance that is done the same way no matter which quinceanos party you go to. I've seen it many, many times. Here's a video, which I think is beautiful...especially the song that is usually picked for this dance.

After this, everyone gets to dance. Which they all did...to music Krysian referred to as Cumbia Hip-Hop. I danced with Pastor and after that, I just watched everyone else dance...at least, I think they were dancing. I'll add some Jaden pictures and videos on another post.

Oh yeah. Still don't have a job. Yuck.