So that’s what Tim Burton was doing in Xochimilco.
Lady Gaga released a new music video on Wednesday that was directed by Burton and filmed in the southern Mexico City borough of Xochimilco, where the singer and director were spotted earlier this year.
The video — “The Dead Dance” — is linked to the singer’s role on Season 2 of the Netflix hit series “Wednesday.”
The song was introduced last week during a fan event for “Wednesday” led by Lady Gaga. The singer plays Rosaline Rotwood, a mysterious but legendary teacher at Nevermore Academy, the school that the title character, Wednesday Addams (of The Addams Family), attends.
The video was filmed on La Isla de las Muñecas (“The Island of the Dolls”), a chinampa within the Laguna de Teshuilo located in the canals of Xochimilco. A chinampa is an artificial island, or floating garden, originally used for intensive agriculture in ancient Mesoamerica, particularly by the Aztecs. Chinampas are still in use today.
The Island of the Dolls is notable for the multitude of dolls of various styles and colors that can be found throughout the chinampa. In 2022, Guinness World Records recognized the island as hosting the world’s largest collection of haunted dolls — approximately 4,000.
Lady Gaga’s video opens with the singer emerging from a wall alongside several haunting dolls, as if she were a doll coming to life.
Legend has it that a young girl drowned in the canal and her body was found among the water lilies alongside La Isla de las Muñecas. Owner Julián Santana believed the girl’s spirit haunted the island, so he began collecting dolls from the garbage and the canals. For the better part of 50 years (until his death in 2001), he arrayed the dolls on huts and hung them from ceilings and trees to ward off evil spirits in hopes of obtaining better harvests.
The island’s caretaker — Santana’s nephew Javier Romero Santa — claims unexplained cries can still be heard today. “At night, we tour the place … and we hear a young lady cry, or a moan,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 2022.
Mexican digital newspaper SDP Noticias went so far as to speculate that Lady Gaga could be cursed as a result of touching some of the dolls — considered by some a lack of respect — during filming of the video.
Tim Burton was in Mexico City in June to promote the opening of his exhibition “The Labyrinth,” at the Lienzo Charro Constituyentes in western Mexico City. He also visited the canals of Xochimilco, likely scouting “The Island of the Dolls” as a location for Lady Gaga’s video.
Whispers about the “The Dead Dance” video emerged in early July, according to Variety magazine, when outlets reported that she had been spotted filming something with Burton in Xochimilco.
Lady Gaga had previously been in Mexico in April when she performed two concerts at Mexico City’s Estadio GNP Seguros.
“Wednesday” has a strong Mexican connection through its lead actress, Jenna Ortega, who is of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent. The show also explores the fictional Gomez Addams’ Mexican heritage.
The Netflix series also features Mexican music in its soundtrack, such as “La Llorona” and “Un Mundo Raro” by the late beloved Mexican singer Chavela Vargas.
