The unassuming and unpretentious town of Masaya is Nicaragua’s cradle of folklore. This is the best place in the country to shop for locally produced handicrafts, participate in a festival, or witness a traditional dance. The performance shown here – replete with Spanish airs and colonial themes – was filmed on the main plaza, where troupes regularly congregate.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
The dance signifies the blessing of ancestral forces, the renewal of the earth and the return of fertility. It signifies spring after winter, where the banging of the earth is reminiscent of the sexual act, and the manner in which pre-Columbians planted maize using a stick, one seed at a time.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Whilst visiting the Kuna Yala archipelago in Panama, my travelling companions and I were treated to a traditional dance performance. The Kuna are one of Latin Americas most successful indigenous groups and retain many elements of their Pre-Columbian traditions. This clip was shot in the village of Nalunega, close to El Porvenir.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
I was walking through Oaxaca City one evening when I stumbled upon a group of dancers practicing their routine. Dance is an ancient and revered art in Mexico. Rooted in the ancient Pre-Columbian past, many dances have complex symbolic moves and meanings; others are performed solely for fun.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Wherever you go in Mexico, youre never far from a fiesta. I stumbled upon this one whilst updating material for Footprints Mexico and Central America Handbook. The setting is Juchitán, a small town located on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca state.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is deeply imbued with indigenous culture and traditions. The Zapotecs, particularly, are a strong regional force. This dance has powerful indigenous overtones and has probably not changed much for hundreds of years.
Interamericana is an intrepid new travel blog about the people and places surrounding the Carretera Interamericana - a 6000 kilometre stretch of highway that links Mexico and the seven nations of Central America. Created by guidebook writer and journalist Richard Arghiris, Interamericana combines photography, video and the best in alternative travel writing.
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Granada’s international poetry festival kicked off yesterday, 14th February 2010, with a belting set from Katia Cardenal. Performing at the Plaza Independencia, Katia sang a mixture of rousing folk songs and revolutionary ballads, including a superb homage to the Miskito people of the Atlantic coast (2nd song featured, actually in the Miskito language). Turn up the volume, pour yourself a rum, kick back and enjoy…
The land is scorched and broken. Piles of dark volcanic rubble litter the scene, yet to be properly eroded by sun, wind and rain. Years from now, these rocks will be transformed into fine, fertile silt. But for today, dead, black lava fields cling to the slopes like some monstrous reptilian hide – coarse, inscrutable, alien…
New Year’s Eve in Nicaragua is celebrated with all the incendiary zeal befitting one of the world’s most volcanic and tempestuous nations. Fire-crackers are ignited en-masse. A frenzy of explosions ricochets across the city. A grotesque effigy symbolizing the passing year is paraded through the streets and burned. These are some of the scenes depicted in this short video.
Las Isletas (The Little Islands) are one of Granada’s principal attractions. An archipelago of some 354 jewel-like islets scattered over the surface of Lake Nicaragua, they lure scores of visitors daily. This video was shot on the northern side of the island chain, where we saw a mixture of upscale holiday homes and other more natural settings strewn with lilies and vegetation…
Catholic sentiments reach a fervent peak in Nicaragua during the Purísima, a festival entirely devoted to the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Lasting from late November to 8th December, the Purísima is a protracted celebration involving various family and church gatherings, as well as spirited street parties. Such is the scene depicted in this short film…
From late September to early December, the otherwise sleepy town of Masaya – Nicaragua’s bastion of folklore and indigenous traditions – comes alive with countless animated events, including the shambolic procession of El Torovenado, filmed here. This anarchic spectacle is the very embodiment of Nicaraguan character…
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Wednesday, November 25, 2009
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