I invite you to sit on the porch of Mi Tierra restaurant In San Antonio, Texas. Before long, you will be serenaded by strolling mariachis, those guitar-strumming, cornet-playing, singing men dressed in their gaucho finery, just as they did for weddings (marriages) so long ago. Maybe you will be treated to the haunting melodies of the flute players from the Andes mountains of South America. My favorite treat is to watch the folkloric dancers, with the girls in white dresses and red satin sashes, the boys in white cotton folk costume and big sombreros.
This painting was made from a photograph taken by my brother, Charles Stokely. It shows a young folkloric dancer as she stands poised to fly into the fast rhythm of the dances she’s practiced so many times. This moment of anticipation is gone in the blink of an eye, only remembered here by happy chance.
