Unity in death: How a community comes together to celebrate their loved ones

Skeletal face paint, a deep-red dress dotted with flowers and lights, accompanied by a backpiece decorated in flowers, skulls and a sun and moon silhouette were La Catrina performer Amber Orosco’s perception of her mother in the afterlife. 

“When my mom died, I felt like I lost a part of me, so my costumes are what I think my mom would look like in the afterlife,” Orosco said.

Orosco’s Catrina is an extravagant creation, her dress, a floor length red ball gown dotted with fabric flowers and small lights is entirely handmade, as is the circular backpiece she wears as la Catrina. The backpiece, studded with skulls, small skeletons, flowers and even a small bird figurine, alongside a sun and moon looms over her figure, creating a silhouette that would be difficult to ignore.

Students, faculty and community members all came together for LBCC’s Day of the Dead celebration on Thursday in the LAC A building quad.

The event was complete with a live band, folkloric dancers and a performance from Orosco as La Calavara Catrina, also known as “the lady of bones” or “the elegant skull” and one of the most recognizable symbols for Day of the Dead.

Orosco, a professional Catrina and dress maker, began making appearances as La Catrina at Day of the Dead events after her grandmother died, seeing no one else taking up the mantle of La Catrina during events, but only decided to pursue it professionally when her mother died.

“My mom was extravagant, larger than life. She would light up the whole room when she walked in, I wanted to show that,” Orosco said.

Orosco also sells her costumes, creating made-to-order versions of her Catrina costume for others interested in bearing the likeness of the iconic figure.

Day of the Dead is meant to be both a celebration of life and death, recognizing death as an important part of the cycle of life while keeping the memory of deceased loved ones alive.

Several clubs and some departments set up their own altars in small tents lined up on the quad, leading up to the main altar set up on the event stage. Each altar was unique in its presentation, but all shared the most important components of a Day of the Dead altar: marigolds, food, and pan de muerto (bread of the dead) surrounding photos of the people the altar was dedicated to.

Some altars held photos of important historical figures, such as Frida Kahlo or Marie Tharp, while others were composed entirely of photos of people’s deceased loved ones.

Oliver Booth, a member of LBCC’s art club (Club D’Art), helped their club set up the altar and placed a photo of their twin sister alongside some of her art. 

“She dealt with a lot of demons, she was smart, beautiful and she was just, her,” said Booth.

“When I saw the procession coming, I was really moved. As cheesy as it sounds it was beautiful,” Booth said.

Booth, a member of the Lakota nation, had never participated in Day of the Dead prior, but decided to this year after the death of their sister in May of 2023, who committed suicide after three prior failed attempts. 

“It was in May, after powwow. She and my dad ate dinner together, but I went to work. It was after dinner that my dad found her, she had hung herself in the bathroom. When I got back from work, I thought she was still alive, but I saw the police outside and one of them said ‘I’m sorry for your loss,’  and I realized she was gone,” Booth said.

An altar for her was something Booth thought would best honor her memory, knowing how much she adored the tradition in life.

“She loved this holiday, she always thought it was beautiful. When she died, we had a memorial for her how we knew she would have wanted it to be; she wouldn’t have wanted a proper Lakota ceremony. We played Iron Maiden and remembered her in life,” Booth said.