Photo Essay

La Cruceta
RAICES is proud to be one of the few Mexican Dance Companies in California and the US to have committed to building and performing Indigenous Danzas based on the voladores (flyers) of Puebla Mexico.   Thanks to our Group Engineer Juan, and his faithful helper Fernando, for all the time and energy they both committed to this project.

	1. Laying the solid foundation is the basis of any successful engineering feat.		2. The actual Cruceta (cross) must be solid and able to hold the weight of 4 male dancers without bowing or bending.
	3. Juan and Gordo, making sure the bolts are tight.		4. A bird’s eye view of the 10 foot tall Design
	5. Early on in the testing,  the structure had a tendency to wobble.   A problem that proved hard to fix!		6. If we had to do it all again, the structure would be a little bit shorter.
	7) The Pantalones worn by the male dancers had fringes that could get caught in the rotating cross.		8. The first test runs were anxiety provoking as 4 brave dancers learned the balancing act of getting on and off the cross.
	9. The trick of making the Cruceta turn quickly is to lean into the cross at the top of the rotation and hug the wood on the bottom.		10. Gordo models the technique for mounting the cross.