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As production winds down and preparation for editing and post-production begins, The Mariachi Miracle celebrates the 65^thbirthday of director/author Daniel Buckley with a day of youth mariachis and folklorico groups to raise funds for The Mariachi Miracle.

 

“It’s going to be a mix of both the music and dance,” Buckley says. “Each is equally important and significant in Tucson’s transformation.”

 

The Mariachi Miracle is a film and book project by Daniel Buckley documenting the ways in which Tucson’s youth mariachi and folklórico programs have contributed to changes in the social, political, economic, educational and artistic fabric of Tucson, Arizona.

 

In 1964, Tucson’s first youth mariachi – Los Changuitos Feos – started what has become a national and international educational movement that keeps kids in school, raises the level of their achievement, send them on to college and gives them both the skills and the life experiences to accomplish anything they set their minds to.

 

By the early 1980s, Tucson youth mariachis started admitting young women into what had previously been an all-male tradition. That in turn, fueled by the Tucson International Mariachi Conference and the phenomenal popularity of Linda Ronstadt’s Canciones de Mi Padre, led to an explosive proliferation of youth mariachi and folklórico programs, both in the school systems and in private organizations.

 

Most of these programs have scholarship initiatives involved that are producing young professions in such diverse fields as business, engineering, architecture, education, medicine, politics, banking, law, and much more.

 

It is a case of the Mexican American community turning to its roots and culture to solve its own problems, and in the process creating positive change for school systems and communities around the country.

 

“The featured groups give a good overview of the broad spectrum of youth mariachi and folklórico talent, from the very young to high school and college musicians and dancers,” Buckley says. “Their artistic gifts demonstrate the high level these young performers have achieved.”

 

In addition to the performances, the event will have one very different element from most fundraisers – a panel discussion with pioneers of the first youth mariachi and folklórico groups.

 

“It’s hard to believe from the popularity of the music and dance today that there was a time when none of this existed in Tucson,” Buckley says. “And initially it was an all-male mariachi tradition. The addition of young women starting in the early 1980s catalyzed not just exponential growth but artistic depth.

 

“In the course of making this film, I have met so many of the first members of these groups and heard their fascinating stories. I thought it would be great for others to meet the pioneers among them, hear them share their stories and perspectives and maybe come away with a greater understanding of why Tucson has become such a primary hub of American youth mariachi and folklórico culture.”

 

Here’s the lineup for the day:

 

Noon –        Mariachi Estrellas de Tucson

 

12:30 –        Mariachi Corazon

 

1:00  –        Julie Gallego’s Viva Dancers

 

1:30 –          Mariachi Milagro

 

2:00 –          Ballet Folklórico Tapatio

 

2:30 –         Mariachi Aztlan de Pueblo High

 

3:00 –         Panel discussion with pioneering male and female members of Tucson’s youth mariachi and folklórico programs.

 

4:00 –         Mariachi Los Changuitos Feos

 

4:30 –         Ballet Folklórico Xochitl

 

5:00 –         Mariachi Atardecer

 

 

 

If you go:

 

What: A fundraiser for The Mariachi Miracle celebrating the 65^thbirthday of director/author Daniel Buckley

 

When: Sunday, June 24, noon to 6 p.m.

 

Where: El Casino Ballroom, 437 E 26th St., Tucson, Az.

 

Donation: $10 at the door (includes a food plate)

 

 

 

If you’re unable to make the event but inclined to make a donation to the project, click here to see the various options.