Panama's devils (diablicos) and dances attract tourists to get to know one of the oldest folk expressions of the continent.
On June, at approximately 250 kilometers southwest of Panama City, the country's traditional and America's oldest folk-religious expression, the Corpus Christi, is celebrated. The main venue of this festivity is La Villa de Los Santos, in the central province of Los Santos, considered the cradle of Panamanian folklore that enjoys an international fame.
A hard working committee, chaired this year by Aristides Burgos, organizes the events taking place in the streets of the city and having their main setting in the parish of San Atanasio, opened in 1782, the focus of the indigenous catechization initiated in the colonial times through dramas with religious content, such as the struggles between good and evil, represented by the devil and the archangel San Miguel, that are still played.
The Association for the Rescue of Dances " Miguel Leguízamo ", of La Villa de Los Santos, led by Burgos, has emerged as the custodian and disseminator of the traditions inherited from the colonial dances of this feast, which is celebrated this year on Thursday June 11th , with a ceremonial mass and the procession of the Sacred Heart. On the eve "the cracking of the sun", will be played to prepare the environment for the imminent attack of King Averno and his henchmen to take over the world. According to Burgos, this year a dance group from Costa Rica is expected to participate and also a private transmission for tourists will be available in the courtyard of the city´s Museum that will provide the service to groups of 20 people with presentations in English and Spanish. In addition, a documentary of the celebration will be prepared.
Tradition Traditionally, thousands of tourists gather to see the procession of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and different dances, in which the background theme is always the struggle between good and evil, and this year won't be the exception, as indicated by the director of the History Museum of La Villa, Professor Manuel Moreno. Hotels in La Villa confirmed to The Panama Post that reservations were made several months ago.Nonetheless, Burgos said that hygiene and health measures to prevent the transmission of influenza A H1N1 are being adopted.
Corpus Christi is an important festivity of the Catholic Church celebrated 62 days after the HolyThursday and emphasizes one of the church's dogmas on the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, or consecrated host. Dances are presented on the Tourism Day, nine days after the Thursday of Corpus Christi, with the support of the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP), so that visitors can enjoy every dance such as "La Danza del Gran Diablo o Diablos Limpios", "La Danza del Torito", "La Danza de las Enanas", "La Moctezuma", "El Zaracundé", "Los Gallotes" y "Los Parrampanes", among others.
According to Moreno, the Moctezuma dance recreates the struggle for the conquest of Mexico by Hernán Cortés, who defeated Emperor Moctezuma. This is a passage of universal history that has its own versions in Peru, The Dominican Republic, besides the Panamanian and Mexican versions. The violin, castanets and the caja (Panamanian drum) are present in these performances, he added.
Before dawn on the day of Corpus Christi, the whole town looks for the wooden doll representing a bull. With the doll, people go through the streets dancing to the sound of the whistle and the caja in the "Danza del Torito" The Corpus Christi Mass starts at 10:00 a.m. and different dances go inside the San Atanasio colonial church. But before that, in the atrium of the church, a dialogue between the Devil and Archangel Michael takes place, and at the end the guardian of heaven gives permission to the devil to enter the church. Then, all dancers, who then will accompany the procession, enter the temple.
La Villa de Los Santos is a town with very friendly people. It has become a sacred shrine of the most ancient traditions. It is about four hours by land from the Panamanian capital, and it has hotels, urban transport, cabs and banks.
