Photo by Samantha Davis The Escuadron Musical Band performed at Liberty Park on Wednesday night in the Little Night Music series hosted by the Marshall Area Fine Arts Council

MARSHALL — The Escuadron Musical Band and Tonantzi Tlalli Guadalupe Aztec dance group performed at Liberty Park Wednesday night to start A Little Night Music series hosted by the Marshall Area Fine Arts Council. 

Wednesday was the first of four evenings of live music and food trucks. Free of admission, the next events consist of the Southwest Minnesota Orchestra on July 31, held at First Lutheran Church, the Singing Q’s on Aug. 7 and the Redwood River Boys on Aug. 14 both at the park. All groups were locally formed in Minnesota and now travel throughout the Midwest to perform. 

“I think this will do a lot for people to understand diversity,” MAFAC President Charlotte Wendel said about the band and dance group. “I am just really glad we did this.” 

The dancers started the night off as people began to arrive and hop in line at the Tacos Coahulia food truck. 

They first formed in 2014 and showcase Aztec culture. 

“Our mission is we try to just show people the aspect of the Aztec dances and the ancestries,” dance member Tiffany Martinez said. “We are trying to attract people to notice that everyone has ancestries … And anyone can join if they want.” 

The wardrobe is authentic and mainly comes from Mexico or California, and carries symbolism. Martinez mentioned the making of the costumes is a process, and it takes time to hand sew the material also with the inclusion of beads, feathers and shells. 

“Every costume has different things. Some have butterflies, some have dragons, and everything represents something,” Martinez said. “Everything represents nature.” 

Their performances also incorporate symbolic representations of the rabbit, dove, wind, fire and other elements. 

Martinez burns copal during the dances, which is the sap and resin that comes from copal trees found in Mexico. The meaning is to give energy to one another and communicate with their lineage. 

During the dances, Martinez could be seen dispersing the copal in all four directions, motioning to the sky and to the ground. 

“That is calling our ancestors,” Martinez said. “That’s just our ancestors giving us permission to dance, and then afterwards when we are closing it off, we are saying ‘Thank you.'”

Another prop used in Aztec dance is a conch shell trumpet, which is used to call to ancestors. 

The group also travels around the Midwest to perform. 

The Escuadron Musical Band took the stage afterward. Alex Andujar and Rigo Ortiz are the owners and managers, and the group originally formed in 2007. 

“It was just supposed to be one song, one surprise for a quinceanera,” Andujar said about how the band formed. “We were local, until he (Ortiz) came in a couple years later and it grew.” 

The band was first made up of Andujar’s three children and other local kids, and then merged with others. They also now travel throughout the country, primarily the Midwest. 

Ortiz said his favorite part is getting in the studio to record new material, and Andujar mentioned they’ve had their music featured in commercials throughout Sioux Falls, S.D., and had conversations with Netflix at one point.  

“More than anything, for the people to enjoy new culture and new music,” Ortiz said about looking forward to tonight. “We are going to be playing new stuff that hasn’t been released yet.” 

Their music can be found on all streaming platforms. 

Each group throughout the music series will take stage at 7 p.m., while food trucks open an hour beforehand.  

Daniel Rieppel, conductor of the Southwest Minnesota Orchestra, will debut a new grand piano they recently acquired at the next event. 

A Little Night in Music events are also sponsored by the city of Marshall and Southwest Minnesota Arts Council.