Travelling doll arrives in Chicago for “Mexico Week”
Tuesday’s Daley Plaza celebration featured CPS kids performing traditional Mexican music and dances with Lele, a 13-foot doll that was handcrafted in Queretaro, Mexico.
The “usually empty” Daley Plaza near Jaime Ortiz’s office was filled with music, dance, and even a 13-foot-tall doll on Tuesday, like the plazas his family had seen in other countries.
After viewing a video on social media of his niece and nephew, who both act in a local Mexican dance troupe, getting ready to take the stage, Ortiz, 27, went to the square at Washington and Dearborn streets.
When he saw the downtown fiesta, it seemed like a degree of acknowledgment he had never experienced before. Growing up in Pilsen, he was aware that some neighbourhoods in Chicago embraced Mexican culture.
Then he stumbled, “There was always Cinco de Mayo, but seeing something like this in Daley Plaza.” It simply feels happier now than it did twenty years ago.
The celebration of Chicago’s connections to Mexico was part of Mexico Week, which was organised by the Mexican consulate in Chicago to highlight special Mexican customs and traditions.
According to demographer Rob Paral’s study of data from the 2020 census, more than 200,000 people in Chicago were born in Mexico in 2016, considerably more than in any other nation. The city has long been a shelter for Mexican immigrants.
A team that specialises in Aztec dances as well as the Ballet Folklorico from a Southwest Side school as well as a solo mariachi singer who recently graduated from CPS all gave performances at the downtown event.
Speaking to the crowds came to see the performances and view the gigantic doll sent by the Mexican consulate, Lele, the travelling mascot for the Mexican state of Queretaro, as well as CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, who was born in Mexico.
Martinez stated, “We want to honour the diverse cultural backgrounds of our youngsters throughout our district. “It’s what makes Chicago such a unique city,”
Claudia Reyes, Ortiz’s sister, watched as her 8-year-old son, Nathaniel, took Martinez’s position on stage and performed alongside another dancer by unrolling a giant crimson ribbon.
Both Reyes, 42, and her husband are natives of Mexico. They reside in Archer Heights, where the conventional dance programme just so happened to be offered at the nearby CPS school, Edwards Elementary School.
For Reyes’ children, it was an opportunity to reconnect with their heritage.
She stated, “This is bringing it home for them because we don’t go to Mexico and we don’t follow Mexican culture.” They now know more about their father’s ancestry thanks to it.
Sophia De Santiago, age 9, of Archer Heights and a different Mexican immigrant’s daughter, assisted Nathaniel in tying the ribbon into a knot.
Twenty years ago, Carmen De Santiago, her mother, emigrated from Mexico. She claimed that Mexican residents of Chicago had the opportunity to honour Mexican ideals during Mexico Week.
De Santiago, 41, stated that it was important to teach the children cultural values so that we wouldn’t forget them. We are still a part of Mexico even though we are not there.
Off-stage, onlookers halted to snap pictures with Lele. On a journey that has already taken her to Denver, Philadelphia, and New York City, the doll was produced in Queretaro and Chicago is the last stop on the itinerary.
The following stops for Lele in Chicago are Little Village on Saturday and O’Hare Airport on Wednesday.
Sergio Perez made a picture stop to capture his son in front of the doll. The three-year-old youngster just about managed to touch the doll’s knees.
When the Mexican couple from Puebla got lost in the city centre while visiting family in Chicago, they stumbled into the events.
Perez, 43, exclaimed, “It’s really great.” The custom of celebrating significant holidays is very common in Mexico, thus it is best for the people living here to keep on to their heritage.
She stated, “This is bringing it home for them because we don’t go to Mexico and we don’t follow Mexican culture.” They now know more about their father’s ancestry thanks to it.
Sophia De Santiago, age 9, of Archer Heights and a different Mexican immigrant’s daughter, assisted Nathaniel in tying the ribbon into a knot.
Twenty years ago, Carmen De Santiago, her mother, emigrated from Mexico. She claimed that Mexican residents of Chicago had the opportunity to honour Mexican ideals during Mexico Week.
De Santiago, 41, stated that it was important to teach the children cultural values so that we wouldn’t forget them. We are still a part of Mexico even though we are not there.
Off-stage, onlookers halted to snap pictures with Lele. On a journey that has already taken her to Denver, Philadelphia, and New York City, the doll was produced in Queretaro and Chicago is the last stop on the itinerary.
The following stops for Lele in Chicago are Little Village on Saturday and O’Hare Airport on Wednesday.
Sergio Perez made a picture stop to capture his son in front of the doll. The three-year-old youngster just about managed to touch the doll’s knees.
When the Mexican couple from Puebla got lost in the city centre while visiting family in Chicago, they stumbled into the events.
Perez, 43, exclaimed, “It’s really great.” The custom of celebrating significant holidays is very common in Mexico, thus it is best for the people living here to keep on to their heritage.
