Sunday, 2 November 2003
 Aaron J. Latham / Staff Dace Park dances with her "Devil in His PJ's" puppet at the All Souls Procession on Fourth Avenue |
|
You cannot mourn death so you might as well accept it and laugh
at it. |
By Eric Swedlund
ARIZONA DAILY STARJoyous, soulful and wildly artistic, Tucson's annual All Souls
Procession brought thousands of people Downtown Saturday night to honor the
dead and celebrate life.
Elaborate costumes, puppets and drummers filled the procession, which has grown from dozens of people in the early 1990s to about 4,000 this year.For Kent Slinker, whose puppet was an "aborted costume" of an Aztec corn god, the procession was about remembering the influence of people in his life, particularly his philosophy professor, mentor and godfather who died last November.
"You cannot mourn death so you might as well accept it and laugh at it," he said.
For Slinker, the beautiful, unique Día de los Muertos celebration is the perfect combination of Mexican cultural influences and the desert Southwest.
"It's not only the aesthetic and the artistic, it's the influence of people long gone," he said. "For people who exist only in memory, it's important to remember them once in a while."
Local artist Malcolm Monster used palm fronds and strips of orange cloth to become the "Phoenix Rising," turning the Day of the Dead into a symbolic New Year.
"This is my chance to get some of this energy and problems off my shoulders and start again," he said. "Hope for the living. That's the other thing this is all about."
His friends have a newborn struggling with a heart condition, Monster said, which for him makes the procession about the future.
"It's a wonderful feeling," he said. "To me, this is the community event of the year in Tucson. There's nothing like it."
Dace Park joined the procession for the first time to help out a friend and said the event was a great opportunity to get out and see neighbors and take in the art.
"No matter what culture you are from, you honor your ancestors, so it's appropriate," she said.
Exchanging "Feliz Muerto" greetings, skeletons on cell phones walked along the route, as the line between onlooker and participant often blurred.
Artist Paul Bagley created a wooden ship-scaffold piece, combining American Indian and Irish death mythology. Eight people carried the 18-foot structure, with one guiding light in front.
Bagley said his thoughts were on "humanity. Everybody before us because we are them."
The procession started at 7 p.m. at Muse, at Sixth Street and Fifth Avenue, and proceeded through Downtown to West Franklin Street and North Stone Avenue. Thousands of onlookers lined the route, many clapping along with the drums or joining in the dancing.
The procession ended at the parking lot at Stone and Franklin with a finale by Flam Chen and Tucson Puppetworks.
Hedwig Mulkey came with her husband and son to watch the procession for the first time.
"We feel like it's a part of the culture and the fun of Tucson," she said. "It's beautiful and amazingly creative."
Stu Goldman brought some levity to the procession with his "Viagra Man" costume.
"What pill could possibly be more appropriate for the Day of the Dead?" he asked. "I took it on myself to speak for the Night of the Dead. There's a whole 12 hours unaccounted for."
* Contact reporter Eric Swedlund at 629-9412 or swedlund@azstarnet.com.