Throughout the dominantly Catholic Latin America, the celebration of patron saint feast days is quite common, be it the Vírgen de Guadalupe (Mexico), El Día de San Juan (Puerto Rico), or El Día de San José (Colombia) and Holy Week throughout the Latin American countries. In some countries these days are national holidays, and in cities or towns that take the names of the saints, celebrations can last for over a week. This is the case in Santiago, Juxtlahuaca, Oaxaca in which the celebration of Santiago (St. James - July 25th) is revered and incredible efforts and contributions from the community come together to maintain the wonderful cultural and traditional practices that contribute to the identity of this community and its members found throughout the diaspora.

Here at ACTA we have come to learn about this region of Oaxaca, its dances, music, food, and artisan work. If you were to search online "fiestas Juxtlahuaca" a series of wonderful indigenous dances would emerge: danza de los diablos, danza de los rubios, danza de los chareos, and danza de chilolos; and the mestizo dance and music form las chilenas. These amazing traditions provide much energy, spectacle, and foundation to communal practice. These performances, however, are contextualized in a larger web of interactions, processes, production and curation, which includes the participation of many people that are behind the scenes.