Alejandro Wolbert Pérez

“Listening to Aztlán” examines the social world of the Texas Mexican musical genre known as conjunto. This project situates conjunto within the broader context of Mexican American cultural production, Texas Mexican popular music, and the shared histories of the US-Mexico borderlands. “Listening” traces the genre and its practitioners from the twentieth century to the present by examining interactions of power; expressions of identity; and constructions of race, class, and gender through movement (dance), performance (instrumentation and playing), and place (the dancehall or night club) within and around San Antonio and South Texas. Ultimately, “Listening” positions conjunto dance and performance as embodied forms of Xicanx thought and knowledge. In so doing, this work locates Texas Mexican popular music and cultural expression as an everyday act of resistance and reaffirmation.