MEXICO, Veracruz, Tantoyuca, Oct 27- Nov 4, 2009. Night &quot;cuadrillo&quot; practice behind the Tantoyuca dance studio of Marcelo Rodriguez Ordaz. &quot;Xantolo,&quot; the Nahuatl word for &quot;Santos,&quot; or holy, marks a week-long period during which the whole Huasteca region of northern Veracruz state prepares for &quot;Dia de los Muertos,&quot; the Day of the Dead. For children on the nights of October 31st and adults on November 1st, there is costumed dancing in the streets, and a carnival atmosphere, while Mexican families also honor the yearly return of the souls of their relatives at home and in the graveyards, with flower-bedecked altars and the foods their loved ones preferred in life. Photographs for HOY by Jay Dunn.