Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza strides with flair into 14th year

'More sound, more pyros' help to keep show 'spectacular'

By Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 12, 2008 at 12:30 a.m.

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Photo by The Rocky / 2003

Jerry Diaz dazzles an audience watching the Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza at the National Western. The rodeo extravaganza enters its 14th year this weekend and will help kick off two weeks of stock show events today.

Photo by The Rocky / 2003

Jerry Diaz dazzles an audience watching the Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza at the National Western. The rodeo extravaganza enters its 14th year this weekend and will help kick off two weeks of stock show events today.

Gerardo "Jerry" Diaz isn't just grooming his six lavish horses for his Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza.

Sometime in the distant future, Diaz's 4-year-old son, Nicolas Adrian, may take over the annual and popular rodeo show at the National Western Stock Show for his father and his mother, Staci Anderson Diaz, who also shares the spotlight during the spectacular.

"He was talking to a little boy at (Denver International Airport), and he said to him, 'Why don't you come see me at the show at the rodeo?' " Diaz said, laughing shortly after his flight had arrived in Denver on Wednesday.

Nicolas Adrian already has his role lined up for this weekend's rodeo, though Diaz would rather wait for the audience to get a glimpse of the show's future before disclosing his son's act.

"He's going to have a very special part toward the very end of the show," Diaz said. "What I can tell you is that he's going to be riding and performing, and that's all I can tell you."

The Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza enters its 14th year this weekend and will help kick off two weeks of Stock Show events today at the Denver Coliseum. The spectacle follows an afternoon performance of the professional rodeo.

Not a redundant act

The fourth-generation charro has been careful not to make the show a redundant act.

He has continued to add more flair to the extravaganza with the goal of educating his audiences about the glamorous traditions of rodeo south of the border.

"We've added more sound, we've added more pyros, we've added more theatrical lights, we've added more staging presentation, more costumes," Diaz said.

"Overall, the whole presentation has been spectacular."

Diaz and his wife will continue to headline their show with their dancing horses - Bandido, El Catrin(the elegant one), El Pajaro(the bird), La Aveja (the busy bee), Milagro (the miracle) and Osado.

The couple and their horses will be accompanied by musical rhythms performed by the 11-member Mariachi Los Galleros of San Antonio.

For Diaz, it's an opportunity to mingle with his audience.

"When I choreograph different pieces of music for the horses to dance and so forth, to me it's one of my favorite pieces of the show, and I can get to show that off in a way where people can feel it," he said.

The audience also will be entertained throughout the show by rodeo clown "Radical" Ryan Rodriguez, who will perform solo tricks that include bareback and bull riding.

Although not exactly bull riding, youngsters will get to show off their riding skills in the Frontier mutton bustin'.

More to come from Diazes

Another highlight of the show includes the sidesaddle riding of the equestrian cowgirls Las Potrancas. The drill team's maneuvers are dangerous - but exquisite - as the charras ride at full gallop while performing stunts in long, ruffled dresses.

"They're playing with fire," Diaz admitted.

When the Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza ends Sunday afternoon, Diaz and his wife won't corral their horses, pack up their production company and head back to their home in New Braunfels, Texas. They have embraced other roles at the Stock Show beyond the rodeo.

For the fourth year in a row, the pair are co-producing the Evening of Dancing Horses, Jan. 23 and 24. Then they will participate at the ProRodeo, performing six specialty acts for audiences from Jan. 17-23.

"By nature we are very creative, and anything where humans and horse are involved, and we can create more music and theatric presentations for the audience, the Lord blessed us in that form, and we can take it to another level, another step and angle . . .

"We enjoy entertaining with horses so much - it comes down to that," Diaz said.

At the coliseum

TODAY

* 7:30 p.m.: The Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza

SUNDAY

* 10 a.m.: The Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza hosts a bilingual Catholic Mass accompanied by mariachi music.

* 2:30 p.m.: Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza

* Ticket information: 1-888-551-5004

Bullfighting, Colorado style

The 2008 Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza ends with a bullfighting presentation by matadors Raul Munoz, of Mexico City, and Alberto Espinoza, of Monterrey, a large industrial city in northern Mexico.

The bullfighting won't be the real deal audiences in Mexico and Spain are accustomed to watching when they cheer on matadors who plunge lances and swords into raging bulls.

After all, the literal Spanish translation of matador is "killer."

Instead, Munoz and Espinoza, clad in their sequined silver and gold trim "suits of lights," will dodge and dance with Colorado bulls using their muletas, or matadors' capes.

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