Conchero Dancers: A March Tradition
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How can I resist a festival, especially one with dancers
in the most elaborate outfits I have ever seen.
The first Friday in March is the annual gathering of the
Concheros, who come, dressed in pre-Hispanic outfits, from small towns near San
Miguel to dance all afternoon and into the evening in the Jardin, the central
meeting place of San Miguel. Properly called, El Señor de la Conquista (the Lord
of the Conquest), the event commemorates the conversion of the indigenous people
to Catholicism by the Conquistadors. When the Spaniards attempted to eliminate
all pagan traditions, the dancing could not be stopped. Hence the event, with
traditional dancing, was incorporated into a Catholic Holiday.
Crowds of San Miguel residents come to the Jardin to
await the dancers. One by one the groups of men, women and children arrive to
the beat of drums and take their places on the streets surrounding the Jardin.
We watch the dancing and take photos of the elaborate costumes and huge
feathered headdresses. The groups get a break to file into the Parroquia and
receive the blessing of the clergy. Then they take their places again and
continue dancing, almost without stop into the evening.
Read SMA Activities 2016 or
El Señor de la Columna
2016 or Semana Santa 2016 writeup
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Puerto
Morelos Dec 2015
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