In a unique fusion of ancient tradition and modern performance, Mexican composer María Leonora is captivating audiences with concerts conceived as intense rituals of personal rebirth. Her 2025 series, titled "Through All the Fire," draws direct inspiration from pre-Hispanic steam baths and uses the metaphor of flame to guide listeners on a transformative journey.
The Temazcal: An Ancient Blueprint for Modern Renewal
Central to Leonora's artistic vision is the temazcal, a pre-Hispanic steam bath with deep ritual and cosmological significance in Mesoamerican cultures. As archaeologist Agustín Ortiz of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History notes, these structures were seen as a passage between the world of the living and the underworld, a symbolic entrance to the 'beyond'.
"You may suffer as you enter a temazcal, but you put up with it," Leonora explains, drawing a parallel to her shows. "You sweat and your ego cracks. Even if you don’t want to, heat breaks you." This philosophy of enduring heat to achieve renewal forms the core atmosphere of her performances, which she deliberately models on the temazcal's transformative process.
A Performance Forged in Personal Fire
Leonora's connection to music's healing power is profoundly personal. She first discovered it at age 16 during a difficult adolescence, finding salvation in punk rock and later, drumming. "I can honestly say it saved my life," she states, reflecting on how performing allowed her to transform her experiences.
This personal history fuels her current work. Before each concert, she prepares with a warrior's mindset, applying tribal makeup and wearing layered clothing she will shed. An amulet over her belly button serves as spiritual protection. "I look into the mirror and I sort of go to war," she said before a recent Mexico City show. "I brace myself to walk through the fire and whatever happens happens."
Crafting an Immersive Journey from Darkness to Light
Her concerts are meticulously designed as immersive experiences. Producer Diego Cristian Saldaña emphasises the goal is for the audience to feel completely enveloped by the sound, lights, and visuals, triggering specific emotions and sensations.
The show itself is a structured ritual. It begins with Leonora inviting the audience to cross a "salt circle," leaving the outside world behind. The setlist is an emotional arc, starting with songs of love, moving through the pain of separation, and delving into deeper, darker emotions. As the performance evolves, Leonora gradually removes her makeup and layers of clothing, symbolising a stripping away of the ego.
The climax mirrors the temazcal experience. "As my character is exhausted, to the ground, it starts to breathe again," she describes. "The moment comes to walk through the fire." Attendees are encouraged to howl, scream, or engage in their own personal ritual to liberate themselves, culminating in a collective song that Leonora describes as "a first ray of light."
Audience reactions, captured in a late November video by Mexico City’s Ministry of Culture, testify to the power of this approach. One repeat attendee found each experience deeply gratifying, while another woman reported arriving exhausted but leaving full of energy, ready to embrace her life anew. For María Leonora, this is the ultimate purpose: using music as a powerful tool to connect, dig deep, and emerge renewed, having walked through all the fire.
