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Feathers, drums, flowers and smoke, the sound of rattles, the beauty of ribbons, swirling skirts, dancers old and young, ritual, poetry, song, music, mythology and more filled the Schwartz Center’s Dance Studio on Saturday night as dancer-choreographer Julio Medina’s mesmerizing new work return//de vuelta a los ancestros unfurled. Ritual was present even before the work began: As audience members entered the space, they were given flowers to place on an altar which was positioned in one corner of the studio.

It was a sensory feast, but, more important, it was a moving tribute to indigenous and Latino communities and to Medina’s own ancestry, a concert that according to the choreographer was two years in the making.

Medina divided the program into five “suns,” each representing a different aspect of Mexican and indigenous culture and traditions throughout history. Two guest ensembles performed Danza Azteca Acitlalmichitli and Alma Mexicana Danza Folklórica. Medina created and danced a solo inspired by the traditional Dance of the Deer, and the Medina Movement Collective performed a festive group dance that explored the symbology of flowers. The final work celebrated transformation and magic in Mexican folklore in a riveting duet created and performed by Medina and guest artist Salome Nieto.

The following photo essay offers a visual taste of the evening. On the concert program, the titles of each section were written first in Nahuatl, a language that has been spoken in central Mexico since at least the seventh century and was the language of the Aztecs. All photos are by Shannel J. Resto Photography.

Ce Tonatiuh — First Sun

The pounding of a drum accompanied the dancers of Danza Azteca Acitlalmichitli as they honored the four winds. They were in constant motion, turning, bending and stamping rhythmically together, their feathered headdresses dipping and swaying, their handheld and leg rattles complementing the drum.

Inviting two companies that are committed to keeping indigenous and Mexican cultures alive to perform alongside new, contemporary works in one cohesive concert was a unique way of honoring history and heritage and something rarely, if ever, seen on Atlanta’s stages. Traditional dances like these were originally intended for community gatherings and rituals, not proscenium-style performances, but their presence in this instance was rich and in tune with Medina’s intent. And to bring the historical timeline completely up to the present day, Medina even executed a few breaking moves in the final section.

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Ome Tonatiuh — Second Sun

The multigenerational ensemble Alma Mexicana Danza Folklórica performed two dances. Xochipitzahuatl is from the state of Hidalgo, Mexico, and featured intricate ribbon dances. The choreography was by the group’s director, Hilda Lucia Estrella de Lev; costumes were handcrafted by artisans in Mexico. The Atlanta-based group performs primarily at festivals and in schools.

La Chiapanecas is a dance from the state of Chiapas, Mexico. The women manipulate their skirts to create a whirl of color.

El Venado, performed powerfully by Medina, was inspired by the Dance of the Deer of the Mayo Yoreme, who inhabit Sinaloa, and Yaqui Yoeme, from the state of Sonora. In many of these traditional dances, the dancers themselves provide sound with their leg rattles, the sounds of bare feet or shoes on the floor and with the handheld rattles that Medina used here. The music for this work was by danzas y bailes de Sinaloa.

The dance included stag leaps, a type of jump that mimics the dee’s leap and which was echoed in other dances throughout the evening. Also echoed later were the deer’s antlers: Dancers held fingers on top of their heads, mimicking the shape.

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Yei Tonatiuh — Third Sun

Medina’s film Rabbit Deer featured himself as a deer, which, according to Mexican cosmology, manifests in sunlight, and Jocelyn Garcia as a rabbit, coming to life in the soft light of the moon. The compelling duet was filmed outdoors in what looked like sand dunes or desert, as the light changed from day to night.

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Nahui Tonatiuh — Fourth Sun

Flowers unending: No acabarán mis flores featured Medina and eight contemporary dancers, many of whom perform frequently in Atlanta’s dance scene. It was a joyful piece, strong and bursting with energy, with costumes created by PhaeMonae Brooks and Cynthia Church.The evocative lighting design throughout the evening was the work of Gregory Catellier, known for lighting many of Atlanta’s dance concerts.

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Macuilli Tonatiuh — Fifth Sun

The final dance, Nepantla: Magia Ancestral, created and performed by Medina and Salome Nieto, a Vancouver-based dancer and choreographer who, according to her website, is heavily influenced by butoh and the cultural syncretism of her native Mexico. She was a revelation. It was hard to take one’s eyes off her, with her slow, sinuous walks and a quality that was alternately fierce, commanding and tender. She became a snake, as she and Medina, standing close together, removed their large cloaks as if shedding skin, only to slip into them again and again, as if engaged in a ritual of growth, time, life and death. According to the program notes, “the performers liken their experience of being a Mexican descendent in the United States and Canada to being a witch: othered, out of place and punished for being one with nature instead of conquering it.”

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Gillian Anne Renault is ArtsATL’s senior editor for music and dance and has been an ArtsATL contributor since 2012. In the past, she covered dance for the Los Angeles Daily News, Herald Examiner and Ballet News and on radio stations such as KCRW, the NPR affiliate in Santa Monica, California. Many years ago, she was awarded an NEA fellowship to attend American Dance Festival’s Dance Criticism program.