NYC "DIA DE LOS MUERTOS" COSTUME PARTY THIS SUN @ SKINNY
Nitzer Ted
Dear Creature of the Night,
Our "Day of the Dead" party is this SUNDAY!
Dress your best. Look the "Dead" part--suggested
costumes are: calavaras (skeletons), anything
Mexican related, wear a calaca (skull mask, or
make-up), or just be as creative as you wish.
There will be 1st, 2nd & 3rd place prizes!!!
We'll have you shake your ass all night with
bloody sexy tunez by: White Zombie, The Knives,
Flock of Seagulls, Thrill Kill Kult, The
Raveonettes, NIN, Peter Murphy, AC-DC, Le Tigre,
etc.
Join DJs:
One-Eyed Roxy (Tina Z.)
Lesbian Van Halen (Leslie Van Stelten)
Nitzer Ted (Ted Jacobs)
Sunday, October 29th
10pm-4am
Inferno @ The Skinny (every Sunday)
174 Orchard St.
(bet. Stanton & Houston in the
Lower East Side, NYC)
NO COVER
For further information or if you're interested
in being a guest dj contact: DJ One-Eyed Roxy at:
www.myspace.com/djoneeyedroxy
Can't wait to see you there!
xxxxoooo
ROX
***
A History lesson:
The Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos, Día de
los Difuntos or Día de Muertos in Spanish) is an
ancient Aztec celebration of the memory of
deceased ancestors that is celebrated on November
1 (All Saints' Day) and November 2 (All Souls'
Day).
The holiday is especially popular in Mexico where
it is a national holiday, and is celebrated in
the Philippines, in Mexican-American communities
in the United States, and to a lesser extent, in
other Latin Americancountries. It is a public
holiday in Brazil, where many Brazilians
celebrate it by visiting cemeteries and churches,
bringing flowers, lighting candles and praying.
Though the subject matter may be considered
morbid from the Anglo Saxon perspective, Mexicans
celebrate the Day of the Dead joyfully, and
though it occurs at the same time asHalloween,
All Saints' Day and All Souls Day, the
traditional mood is much brighter with emphasis
on celebrating and honoring the lives of the
deceased, and celebrating the continuation of
life; the belief is not that death is the end,
but rather the beginning of a new stage in life.
A common symbol of the holiday is the skull
(colloquially called calavera), which celebrants
represent in masks, called calacas (colloquial
term for "skeleton"), and foods such as Candy
Skulls, which are inscribed with the name of the
recipient on the forehead. Other holiday foods
include pan de muerto (or "bread of the dead"), a
sweet egg bread made in various shapes, from
plain rounds to skulls and rabbits often
decorated with white frosting to look like
twisted bones.
The traditions and activities that take place in
celebration of the Day of the Dead are not
universal and often vary from town to town. For
example, in the town of Pátzcuaro on the Lago de
Pátzcuaro inMichoacán the tradition is very
different if the deceased is a child rather than
an adult. On November 1 of the year after a
child's death, the godparents set a table in the
parents' home with sweets, fruits, pan de muerto,
a cross, a Rosary (used to pray to the Virgin
Mary) and candles. This is meant to celebrate the
child?s life, in respect and appreciation for the
parents. There is also dancing with colorful
costumes, often with skull-shaped masks and devil
masks in the plaza or garden of the town. At
midnight on November 2, the people light candles
and ride winged boats called mariposas (Spanish
for "butterfly") to Cuiseo, an island in the
middle of the lake where there is a cemetery, to
honor and celebrate the lives of the dead there.