Created exclusively for the purpose of embellishing the Guelaguetza, the Flor de Piña dance was conceived by Paulina Solís Ocampo in 1958, in response to a request from the then state governor, Alfonso Pérez Gasga, who asked the municipality of Tuxtepec, a traditional dance that will reflect the identity of the Papaloapan Basin, far from the jaronas jaronas.
And today, more than 60 years after its presentation on the Monday of Cerro de la Guelaguetza, the Flor de Piña dance has become an icon of the great party, applauded by those lucky enough to witness it. Unfortunately, on July 9, its creator passed away of natural causes at the age of 98.
Who was Paulina Solis?
She was born in Tuxtepec, Oaxaca, in June 1925. She was the mother of three children, Jorge, Rosa María and Luisa del Carmen. As for her artistic career, she worked as a teacher for 50 years, until her retirement in the year 2000.
In fact, the renown would come in 1958, when she was a teacher of Artistic Education at the Francisco I. Madero School and authorities from the municipality of Tuxtepec sent her the score of the melody Flor de Piña, by the Oaxacan composer Samuel Mondragon and they asked him to develop a suitable dance.
Likewise, in an interview for the Youtube channel of the City Hall of Loma Bonita Oaxaca, teacher Solís commented the following:
(The creation of the dance) arose out of necessity, because Tuxtepec did not have a representative dance in the Guelaguetza, they invited us and we went with our revelries; and they told us no, the jaranas are from Veracruz, they are areas of Veracruz; we want something from Oaxaca. Then they themselves thought that we did not understand what they wanted and they sent us a score to the Tuxtepec city hall so that we could put dance on it (…) So I focused on it”.
Later, the dance created by the teacher would be presented for the first time on Monday of the Cerro de la Guelaguetza in the Rotonda de las Azucenas on July 21, 1958; and since then it is one of the most applauded traditional dances of the great party; not only for the original choreography; but by the beauty of the dancers; the beautiful handmade huipiles they wear; as well as the showy silk bows, the multiple necklaces full of color and of course, the pineapples that they hold in their hands, representative fruits of this region of the country.