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.
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.
Clouds of bright orange butterflies pour through the sky like storms of ash, carpeting the earth and weighing down the trees in dense, flaming clusters. They surround and swallow me like swirling curtains of fire, and as they burst into flight, the sound of rippling wings purrs through the air surreally.
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.
Approaching Panama City you can see the Amador causeway reaching across the Pacific, the Bridge of the Americas arcing over the canal, transiting ships and stacks of containers.
We continue over our misty journey over the Kuna Yala archipelago, stopping en-route to pick-up more passengers.
Kuna Yala is an indigenous reserve located on the northeast shores of Panama. Some 400 islands comprise the scattered Kuna Yala archipelago, seen here on a very misty flight to Panama City. Some of them are so small they can barely accomodate a simple runway. Others have nothing but a few palm trees and a [...]
Panama City, the crossroads of the world, is most famous for its transoceanic canal; one of the world’s most important shipping lanes. Central to its operation are three sets of locks which lift ships from sea level to the canal. The enormous vessel in this clip is a Panamax ship, presently the largest type the [...]
Bluefields is Nicaraguas most bustling Caribbean port town. The cultural flavour here is very different to western Nicaragua. English is widely spoken by the predominantly Afro-Caribbean population, but Hispanic and Miskito communities also occupy the city and surrounding region in large numbers.
Christmas in Nicaragua is attended with much incendiary glee. I shot this video from my doorstep in Granada. It shows the locals celebrating with toros cohetes or firework bulls – a fun and wonderfully hazardous practice. The bulls are models, not real bulls, often waved in the air by dancers or inebriated party-goers.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
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