Pictured: Los Elegidos de Asís, photo by Elibet Valencia Muñoz

Join us for a performance of La Danza de Los Diablos by local group “Los Elegidos de Asís” followed by a talk with photographer Elibet Valencia Muñoz and the dance group “Los Elegidos de Asís” after which guests are encouraged to ask questions and view some of the masks and costumes worn by the performers up close! Free to attend, no registration required. 

La Danza de Los Diablos is a Mixteco tradition that comes from a long line of dance traditions called “La Danza de Chareos” that evolved since the 16th century in Oaxaca, Mexico.

The origin story of this dance is somewhat obscure and still debated among those who practice and study it; nevertheless, the fundamental piece of the legend/folktale is a battle between Moors and the Christians. During one point in the battle, one of the Moor characters, Salín, is loosing against a Christian, Santiago, and he proclaims:

“Yo a mahoma no he de dejar aunque me lleven los diablos.”
“I will not abandon Muhammad even if the devils take me.”

After this, a group of devils emerge and carry Salín, either into either the afterlife or into the rest the battle. This moment is the genesis of inspiration and reenacted through the live performance.

The danza embodies resistance, elegance, and intersectional identity that uses public space as a stage. The attire is composed of horned wooden masks, chivarras (chaps), chicotes (whips), boots, jacket, scarf/handkerchief, and gloves. The horns are from goat, deer, and cow. The danza is performed with a band who uses wind instrument that plays music called Chilenas.
 

NOTES

This text is not intended to be academic. This information was gathered by interviewing multiple dancers and referring to one recent, doctoral, anthropological thesis that investigated traditional dances across Mexico, central, and south America.

There is another, significantly distinct dance by the same name that originates from the north Oaxaca and south Guerrero region. It is both historically and theatrically. Unfortunately, a reoccurring issue is that the two dances are mixed up, including by prominent or easily accessible public sources; consequently, adding to the misrepresentation of both.
 
 

This event is a collaboration with The Awakening Magazine.