Jesusita in Chihuahua
Like Water for Chocolate“Jesusita in Chihuahua” is the polka that Juan Alejandrez plays on his norteño accordion as Gertrudis dances at the ranch. The performance turns music into more than party entertainment: Gertrudis’s unmistakable sense of rhythm prompts a question about her inheritance, and Tita’s knowledge connects that quality to a secret about her mother’s past.
Performance at the Ranch
Gertrudis first holds the attention of a circle of admirers by telling stories about the battles she has experienced in the revolution, including the first firing squad she ordered. She breaks off, crosses the salon, and begins dancing gracefully to “Jesusita in Chihuahua,” which Juan plays on the accordion. Her ease and uninhibited movement contrast with the scandalized comments of the women watching her. The polka accompanies a public display of the confidence and physical expressiveness for which Gertrudis is known.
Rhythm and Family Secret
Watching Gertrudis, Rosaura asks where her sense of rhythm comes from: Mama Elena disliked dancing, and their father was said to dance badly. Tita answers with a shrug, but she knows the secret behind Gertrudis’s rhythm and other qualities: Gertrudis’s father was José Treviño, Mama Elena’s forbidden love. The music therefore gives the scene a pointed dramatic irony. Rosaura voices the family’s uncertainty about Gertrudis’s inheritance, while Tita recognizes the answer and keeps it to herself.
Later Disclosure
Tita’s silence does not last. A year later, after Gertrudis gives birth to a child of mixed ancestry, Juan threatens to leave her because he cannot forgive what he sees as her return to her old ways. Tita tells Gertrudis and Juan the truth about Mama Elena’s past. The letters she had not burned provide proof of Gertrudis’s innocence, and the couple remain together. In retrospect, Gertrudis’s dance to “Jesusita in Chihuahua” belongs to a longer narrative movement: a quality noticed in public but misunderstood within the family is eventually explained by evidence of the history Tita had kept secret.
