Sta. Ana del Valle, Oaxaca - Danza de las Plumas
The Danza de las Plumas (Dance of the Feathers) is performed during the Fiesta de Esquipulas in Santa Ana del Valle, a very small town that requires first going to Tlacolula and then taking another bus to get to. My guidebook said the dance was generally performed at noon; a señora I asked when I arrived said it would be performed at 2, and it was actually performed at 1:15, after the dancers had paraded around the churchyard and gone to a special mass. I was psychologically incapable of remaining until the dance ended, this because what would happen was that the band would play and the dancers would dance for a few minutes, then they would stop, the band leader would hand out sheet music to the musicians, the musicians would play a different melody--and the dancers would dance precisely the same steps as before. After the third or fourth repetition, this pattern was driving me absolutely batty, so I slipped out and returned to Oaxaca.
Feb 17, 2009
Photos: 29
