Moros y Cristianos (Moors and Christians)

Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá wrote in his Historia de la Nueva México (Alcalá, Spain, 1610) of a drama as it was produced for the first Spanish encampment on the Rio Grande in May of 1598. The play depicted the battles and interactions that took place in Spain between the Arabs and the Christians during the Medieval era leading up to the period of the Reconquista (Reconquest). It was the first European play acted out on American soil. It was traditionally conducted entirely on horseback and incorporates music and recited text in Spanish.
Today the plays celebrate the rich multicultural history of the Iberian Peninsula and are accompanied with pageantry, fanfare, elaborate and highly romanticized costumes, and marching bands, playing both Arabic inspired music and Christian marches resembling the crusades. Contemporary pageants and mock battles are celebrated throughout the region of Valencia in Eastern Spain, Oaxaca and Zacatecas, in Mexico, various regions of South America and the Philippines, and, until the end of the twentieth-century, in Northern New Mexico.
Música Buena: Hispano Folk Music of New Mexico
In the Hispanic Heritage Wing
October 6, 2019 - June 27, 2021
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