Danza de los Voladores de Papantla
Encyclopedia
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
. It is believed to have originated with the Nahua, Huastec and Otomi
Otomi people
The Otomi people . Smaller Otomi populations exist in the states of Puebla, Mexico, Tlaxcala, Michoacán and Guanajuato. The Otomi language belonging to the Oto-Pamean branch of the Oto-Manguean language family is spoken in many different varieties some of which are not mutually intelligible.One of...
peoples in central Mexico, and then spread throughout most of Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
. The ritual consists of dance and the climbing of a 30 meter pole from which four of the five participants then launch themselves tied with ropes to descend to the ground. The fifth remains on top of the pole, dancing and playing a flute and drum. According to myth, the ritual was created to ask the gods to end a severe drought
Drought
A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
. Although the ritual did not originate with the Totonac
Totonac
The Totonac people resided in the eastern coastal and mountainous regions of Mexico at the time of the Spanish arrival in 1519. Today they reside in the states of Veracruz, Puebla, and Hidalgo. They are one of the possible builders of the Pre-Columbian city of El Tajín, and further maintained...
people, today it is most strongly associated with them, especially those in and around Papantla, as the ceremony has died off in most other places. The ceremony was named an Intangible Cultural Heritage
Intangible Cultural Heritage
The concept of intangible cultural heritage emerged in the 1990s, as a counterpart to the World Heritage that focuses mainly on tangible aspects of culture...
by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
in order to help the ritual survive and thrive in the modern world.
History
According to Totonac myth, at least 450 years ago there was a severe drought that brought hunger to the people. The gods were withholding the rain because the people had neglected them. The ceremony was created, to appease the gods and bring back the rains. In some versions of the story, the ritual is created by the old men of a village, who then chose five young men who were chaste. In other versions, the five men themselves create the ritual. The tallest tree in the nearby forest is cut down, with the permission of the mountain god, stripped of branches and dragged to the village. The trunk is erected with much ceremony. The youths climb the pole and four jump off while the fifth played music. The ritual pleased the rain god Xipe TotecXipe Totec
In Aztec mythology and religion, Xipe Totec was a life-death-rebirth deity, god of agriculture, vegetation, the east, disease, spring, goldsmiths, silversmiths and the seasons. Xipe Totec was also known by the alternative names Tlatlauhca, Tlatlauhqui Tezcatlipoca and Youalahuan...
and other gods, so the rains began again and the fertility of the earth returned.
The exact origin of this ritual/dance is unknown, but it is thought to have originated with the Huastec, Nahua and Otomi peoples in Sierra del Puebla and mountain areas of Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
. The ritual spread through much of the Mesoamerican world until it was practiced from northern Mexico to Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
. Evidence for the ritual stretches back at least as far as pre-Classic period according to ceramics found in Nayarit. In pre-Hispanic times, the ritual was far more complex, involving taboos and meditation. The participants were thought to impersonate birds and in some areas were dressed as parrot
Parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...
s, macaws, quetzal
Quetzal
Quetzals are strikingly colored birds in the trogon family . They are found in forests and woodlands, especially in humid highlands, with the five species from the genus Pharomachrus being exclusively Neotropical, while the single Euptilotis species is almost entirely restricted to western Mexico...
s and eagles. These birds represented the gods of the earth, air fire and water. By the 16th century, the ritual was strongly associated with solar ceremonies, such as the spring equinox. The ritual is most closely tied with rain and solar deities such as Xipe, Totec and Tlazotlteotl.
The ritual was partially lost after the Conquest, and the Spaniards destroyed many records about it. The Church was much against pagan rituals such as these after the Conquest and this and many other rituals were silenced or practiced in secret. Much of what is known is due to oral tradition and writing by the first Europeans to come to Mexico. Later, Catholic elements would be added to the ritual, and it became something of a spectacle in the later colonial period. The ritual mostly disappeared in Mexico and Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
with small remnants surviving, most strongly among the Totonac people.
Although the ritual did not originate with the Totonacs, today it is most strongly associated with the Totonacs of the Papantla area in Veracruz. In modern times, a number of changes have occurred. Due to the deforestation of much of the Sierra de Puebla and mountain areas of Veracruz, most voladores perform on permanent metal poles, which in Veracruz are often donated by the oil industry. The most controversial change has been the induction of women to perform the ceremony. Traditionally, it has been taboo to allow women to become voladores but a few have become such, all of whom are in Puebla state. One of the first males to train women, Jesús Arroyo Cerón, was killed in 2006, when he fell from a pole during the Cerro Tajin celebrations in 2006. The elders of the Totonacs believe this was divine retribution and still prohibit the performance of the ritual to women participants.
Totonac version
Because the ritual survives most strongly in the Totonac region of Veracruz, called TotonacapanTotonacapan
Totonacapan is the name given to a region located mainly in the northern part of the Mexican state of Veracruz. This region was originally comprised around the pre-Columbian city of El Tajín and later, during the Colonial era until our times, around the city of Papantla.Though it comprises a wide...
, it is now defined by this ethnic group, especially those who live in and around Papantla. According to Totonac myth, the gods told men, “Dance, and we shall observe.” Today, pleasing the gods of old is still a part of the most traditional version of the ritual. The Totonac dress for this ritual consists of a red pants with a white shirt, a cloth across the chest and a cap. The pants, hat and chest cloth are heavily embroidered and otherwise decorated. The cloth across the chest symbolized blood. The hat is adorned with flowers for fertility, mirrors represent the sun and from the top stream multicolored ribbons representing the rainbow. These costumes are made by the voladores themselves and can cost between 5,000 and 8,000 pesos each.
The most traditional and lengthy version starts from the selection and cutting of the tree to be used, to the final dance after all voladores have descended from the pole. The tree selection, cutting and erecting ceremony is called the tsakáe kiki. It involves going into the forest to find a suitable tree and asking the permission or the pardon of the mountain god Quihuicolo for taking it. The tree is stripped of its branches and dragged to the ceremonial site, where a hole has been dug for the now 30 meter pole. Before erecting the pole, offerings of flowers, copal, alcohol, candles and live chickens or a live turkey are placed in the hole. These are then crushed as the pole is erected, adding to the fertility of the earth. The pole becomes a connection point between the sky and the earth and the underworld with the surface world, and it is considered to be the fifth cardinal direction of the earth. The post and the dancers are then purified with alcohol sprinkled in the form of a cross and tobacco smoke.
In most cases, however, the pole used is a permanently placed one, often of steel, and this part of the ceremony does not take place. On these occasions, the ceremony begins with a dance and song type called a “son
Son (music)
The Son cubano is a style of music that originated in Cuba and gained worldwide popularity in the 1930s. Son combines the structure and elements of Spanish canción and the Spanish guitar with African rhythms and percussion instruments of Bantu and Arará origin...
.” Usually the initial song played and danced to is called the “son of forgiveness.” After this, the five begin to climb the pole with the chief or “caporal” going first. The caporal will not descend but rather will stay at the top of the pole until near the end of the ceremony. The caporal stands on a capstan
Capstan
Capstan may refer to:*Capstan , a rotating machine used to control or apply force to another element*Capstan , rotating spindles used to move recording tape through the mechanism of a tape recorder...
, called a manzana (apple) which is a small platform at the top of the pole. From this capstan is suspended a square frame called a cuadro (square) on which the other four voladores sit. While these four wind the ropes around the pole and tie themselves to the ends, the caporal plays the flute and drum acknowledging the four cardinal directions, beginning with the east because it is believed life came from this direction. The four ropes are each wound thirteen times, which times four is fifty two, the number of years in a Mesoamerican solar cycle.The caporal then bends fully backwards to acknowledge the sun, playing all the while.
The four voladores represent the four cardinal directions as well as the four elements: earth, air, fire and water. The caporal represents the fifth sun. The four voladores seated on the cuadro face the caporal and at the appropriate moment fall backwards to descend to the ground suspended by the wound ropes. As the ropes unwind, the voladores spin, creating a moving pyramid shape. As the other voladores descend the caporal plays the “son of goodbye” and dances on the narrow platform.
Most traditionally, after the descent, there is another dance of goodbye.
Intangible Cultural Heritage and conservation of the tradition
The Ritual Ceremony of the Voladores of Papantla has been recognized as Intangible Cultural HeritageIntangible Cultural Heritage
The concept of intangible cultural heritage emerged in the 1990s, as a counterpart to the World Heritage that focuses mainly on tangible aspects of culture...
(ICH) by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
in 2009. This is the second Mexican event to be so recognized with the first being the Indigenous Festivity of the Dead in Michoacán
Michoacán
Michoacán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia...
in 2008. Governor Fidel Herrera Beltrán
Fidel Herrera Beltrán
Fidel Herrera Beltrán is a Mexican politician and former governor of Veracruz. A member of Institutional Revolutionary Party , he was elected governor in 2004...
received the award in the name of the people and the government of Veracruz, and especially the indigenous people of the Totonacapan region of the state. Celebrations of the recognition took place on October 12, 2009 in Takilhsukut Park at El Tajín
El Tajín
El Tajín is a pre-Columbian archeological site and was the site of one of the largest and most important cities of the Classic era of Mesoamerica. The city flourished from 600 to 1200 C.E. and during this time numerous temples, palaces, Mesoamerican ballcourts and pyramids were built...
and other volador sites in Mexico. The ritual was inscribed along with the Traditions of the Otomi-Chichimecas of Toliman, Peña de Bernal, Querétaro
Bernal, Querétaro
San Sebastián Bernal, better known as Bernal, is a colonial village in the Mexican state of Querétaro. It was founded in 1642 by spanish soldier Alonso Cabrera....
.
The recognition carries the responsibility for Mexico to safeguard and promote the tradition to keep it alive. As part of the nomination process was an extensive regional plan of preservation, promotion and development of the cultural heritage in Veracruz and other parts of Mexico and Central America.
One effort that has been underway is the establishment of the Escuela de Niños Voladores (School of Volador Children), which is located at Takilhsukut Park and is the first formal school for voladores. It has a student population of between 70 and 100 students who learn about the history, significance and values associated with the ritual from the pre-Hispanic period. These include those associated with the taking of the pole, called a tsakáe kiwi, from the forest, an aspect of the ritual that is in danger of extinction. The school is sponsored by the Veracruz state government and children begin attending between 6 and 8 years of age. Most come from the neighboring communities of Plan de Hidalgo, El Tajín, San Lorenzo and Arroyos del Arco and Oxital, and whose fathers and grandfathers are voladores. The school requires students to meet certain requirements, such as being able to speak Totonac and girls are not permitted. However, most voladores learn the ritual from their fathers and grandfathers starting at age eight or ten. To become a volador in the traditional Totonac community requires 10 to 12 years ofpreparation and many consider it to be a life vocation.
Another effort to conserve and promote the tradition is the Encuentro de Voladores (Volador Encounter), which was begun in 2009 and coincides with the Cumbre Tajín spring equinox event of the El Tajín site. For five days, voladores from various places perform at the poles erected at the site. The objective is not only to see the different costumes and styles of the groups but to share experiences about the fertility ritual. Voladores come from as far as San Luis Potosi
San Luis Potosí
San Luis Potosí officially Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosí is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is San Luis Potosí....
and Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
.
One reason for the need of protection is that in most cases in Mexico, the ritual is not performed for religious purposes. The first organization for voladores came about in the 1970s but also the commercialization of the ritual. There are about 600 professional voladores in Mexico.
In smaller communities, the ritual is only enacted on the feast of the community’s patron saint or other religious events, but in larger communities, especially where there are tourists, it is performed as an attraction for donations. Two examples of this are the voladores that perform in Xcaret and Xel-Ha, and the Totonac voladores in Chapultepec Park in Mexico City, who are one of the parks major attractions. Some groups of voladores try to balance respect for the ritual while still performing for spectators. There is a formal established group in Boca del Río
Boca del Río, Veracruz
Boca del Río is a city and municipality located in the center of the state of Veracruz. The small city of Boca del Río serves as the seat of the municipality. The municipality lies just south of Veracruz Municipality, and contains a part of the city and port of Veracruz, Mexico...
that has been recognized by municipal authorities and receives support in the way of space and a permanent pole.. The goal of the group is to offer to tourists a dignified version of the ritual at the Plaza Bandera that does not forget its roots. Members of the group are all natives of the city of Papantla. The ceremony is held in a public park and youths are required to leave items such as bicycles and skateboards outside the ceremonial space.
To promote the ritual and the culture behind it internationally, groups of voladores have performed in many parts of Mexico and other countries as part of cultural festivals. Voladores have performed at the Zapopum Festival in Guadalajara, the Festival of San Pedro in Monterrey
Monterrey
Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...
, the Indian Summer Festival in Milwaukee, the Carnaval Cultural in Valparaíso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
, the Forúm Universal de las Culturas in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, and at an intercultural show in New York.
Variations of the ritual
In addition to whether or not there is a pole ceremony, other variations in the ritual exist. Among the Nahua and Otomi peoples, there is generally no dance before climbing the pole, the ceremony begins at the top. There is also a version where the suspended frame has five sides instead of four and the ritual involves six dancers and not five. The most traditional time to perform this version is on Holy Thursday at the culmination of a festival held on this day called the Huapangueada. Some dancers have rules to follow such as needing to fast for one or more days before the ceremony and abstain from sexual relations so that the gods will look upon the ceremony favorably. Most of the variations are found in Puebla state.However, the most controversial variation is whether or not to permit women to perform the ritual. In Papantla, which is the community most closely associated with the ritual, the Consejo de Ancianos Totonacas (Council of Ancient Totonacs) has formally prohibited the inclusion of women. Traditionally, women have been excluded from all Totonac ritual dancing. Even for the dance called La Maringuilla, the female protagonist is portrayed by a man. The prohibition stems from the belief that women are “bad entitites, who bring back luck” and their inclusion would be a sin and/or anger the gods.
However, in a few communities, such as Cuetzalan
Cuetzalán
Cuetzalan is a small town set high in the hills in the north of the Mexican state of Puebla, 183 kilometers from Puebla, the state capital. It is located in the Sierra Norte region. The town itself is characterized by sloping cobbled streets and numerous rustic buildings...
and Pahuatlán
Pahuatlán (municipality)
Pahuatlán is a town and municipality in Puebla in south-eastern Mexico.-References:...
in Puebla and Zozocolco de Hidalgo
Zozocolco de Hidalgo
Zozocolco de Hidalgo is a municipality located in southern Veracruz, about from state capital, Xalapa. It has a surface of and is located at...
in Veracruz, women have been allowed to be voladores. Those who are allowed to take part must first complete a series of rituals designed to ask the forgiveness of the gods and Catholic saints for being a woman. The women must also be virgin without a boyfriend if unmarried or abstain from sexual relations before the ritual if married. If a female volador is found to have broken the rules of sexual abstention, she is taken to an altar which is surrounded by incense burners and candles. An image of the Archangel Michael or Saint James bears witness to the punishment, which involves a number of slaps to the face (bofetadas), with the quantity depending on the transgression and the decision of those in charge. It is claimed that the ritual cures “the fever” of the woman. It is believed that women who do not obey these rules will bring calamity to the ritual.
It is not known when the first female was allowed to take part as a volador. One of the first men to train women was Jesús Arroyo Ceron, who trained his daughter Isabel in 1972; after this, he trained his other three daughters. In March 2006, aged 70, he fell from a pole during the Cumbre Tajín celebrations and died. Family members believe he fell “at the side of the gods,” but many patriarchs believe the accident was divine retribution. A wooden cross and flowers at the Plaza del Volador in Parke Takilhsukut memorialize him.
Approximiately twenty female voladores are known to exist.