Hello everyone, here is the next installment of my much delayed blog. Hopefully, I'll catch up soon with my posts.
March means it's once again time for San Miguel Centro' s annual Feria de Cucuá. The Feria is a day of competitions at various campesino activities, and the highlight is the traditional danza de la cucuá . The dance is performed in costumes made of bark from the Cucuá tree and decorated using organic dyes made from local plants. The costumes resemble demons and were traditionally used to scare away evil.
The competition to split the coconuts was fierce. The first person to open three coconuts was declared the winner.
These two men are racing to be the first to peel the bark from the cucua tree, though keeping the bark intact was just as important as peeling the bark quickly.
These kids are from the Cucuá youth group. The boys are wearing homemade Cucuá costumes while the girls are wearing traditional dresses.
This couple is demonstrating a traditional tipico dance. The cucuá dance is only performed in San Miguel Centro, but the tipico can be found everywhere in Panamá.
In this photo, the woman is showing off her pollera, or traditional dress.
These photos were taken during a Cucua practice session for the Cucua youth group.
Each of the costumes is handmade and slightly different. The masks tend to depict demons with the features of deer, wolves, and dragons.
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