Remember when the future was something not just to look forward to, but to grab with both hands and yank into the present? No, me neither, but that's what Mexico were doing in the mid-'60s when they commissioned a 15km avenue of modernist sculptures, the Ruta De La Amistad, to coincide with their capital's hosting of the 1968 Olympics. If that weren't enough, then they made this sci-fi dance video featuring Raquel Welch, who'd already played the part of Miss Fuzzy Britches in One Million Years BC, to promote their bikini-clad optimism.
The daughter of an aero engineer, Welch was born Jo Raquel Tejada, in Illinois, before the family moved to San Diego. She was already 27, 28 when this was filmed.
Mexico hosted the Football World Cup two years after the Olympics, and was the final stage of the mammoth London to Mexico City rally also in 1970 (won by Hannu Mikkola in a Ford Escort. Ford commemorated the win with the special edition Escort Mexico). What the hell happened to Mexico between being the most important country in the world and now?
If you're short of time (Jeez, how short of time do you have to be to not spend some of it watching Raquel Welch in her prime?), the most relevant part of the video is up to 1:46.
You're welcome!