Venezuelan Spirit Dancers

Eli Whitney Museum

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Diablos Danzantes del Yare (The Dancing Devils of Yare) is the name of a religious festivity celebrated in San Francisco de Yare. Venezuela, at the Corpus Christi day festivities. Its origins are traced back to the 18th century, one of the oldest community organizations of the American continent.

On the Roman Catholic Feast Day of Corpus Christi dancers wearing devil costumes perform in the streets to recreate an African-Venezuelan tradition began in Venezuela by slaves. They wear head-to-toe red garments, grotesque masks and accessories like crosses, amulets and rosaries. Although the ritual was at first reprimanded by church officials the “dancing devils” now stop at the front of the church, listen to mass and then vow in submission to God. The dancers often dance for specific reasons such as health or family heritage and belong to small dancing clans. This annual festival draws thousands of visitors to small towns in Venezuela.

Diablos Danzantes de Venezuela/strong>

En el día festivo de Corpus Christi danzantes vestidos de diablos bailan en las calles para recrear una tradición Africana y Venezuelana comenzada por esclavos. Los danzantes se visten completamente de rojo y se ponen mascaras grotescas y otros accesorios como cruces, amuletos y rosarios. Aunque al principio este ritual era prohibido por ley por la iglesia católica, ahora los diablos danzantes paran en frente de la iglesia, participan en misa y se entregan a dios. A veces los participantes bailan por razones especificas como un problema de salud o tradición familiar y pertenecen a clanes de danza.

Spirit Dancers of Chuao Video
http://venezuelanmusic.blogspot.com/2007/11/dancing-devils-of-chuao.html

Celebración del Corpus Cristi realizada anualmente en San Francisco de Yare, Estado Miranda, Venezuela.

/param>/param>/param>/embed>/object> DIABLOS DE YARE FRAGMENTOS DE VIDEO /param>/param>/param>/embed>/object>

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Parts/h3>

The pieces of this project are made from 1/new/2 inch pine. Print out the Venezuelan Spirit Dancer template/a> to use as a guide for cutting.

Step 1/h4>

Attach the head to the body. Start by inserting the fluted dowel into the head block, then insert the head and neck into the body.



Step 2/h4>

Attach the feet to the body.


Step 3/h4>

Attach the arms and hands to the body. To attach the hands to the arms, first put a little glue into the hole in a bead. Then lay the arm across the hole. Break the pointy end off a toothpick, and use it to stick the arm into the hand. Break off the toothpick, leaving a little of it inside the hand to keep the hand securely attached to the arm.




Step 4/h4>

Attach the body to the sticks


Step 5/h4>

Build the second body just as you built the first, and attach it to the sticks.

Step 6/h4>

Decorate your Venezuelan Spirit Dancers.
Inspiration

New York Times: Venezuela Dances to a Devilish Beat to Promote Tourism/a>

Spirit Dancer

Spirit Dancer

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