CARNAVAL de Oruro - Boliva
The Carnaval de Oruro is the largest cultural event in Bolivia and was named a UNESCO World Heritage Event in 2001. Held in Oruro, the folklore capitol of Bolivia, the event is a celebration of indigenous Bolivian culture. The highlight of the event is the Grand Parade with 30,000 dancers and 10,000 musicians formed into traditional groups such as the Diabladas, Morendas and Caporales.
The origin of the Diabladas masquerade dates back to 1790, the year after the Virgin of the Mineshaft was named the patron of Oruro's carnival celebration. The indigenous miners feared that their god of the underworld, Supay, would be jealous of the attention being paid to the Virgin so they decided to honor him during the festivities with a procession dressed as diablos (devils).
The procession of Morenadas began in 1913. It commemorates the sacrifice of enslaved Africans who worked alongside Indian laborers in the Bolivian mines and later on lowland plantations. Different characters appear in the groups including black slaves, slave drivers, and Spaniards, each with their distinctive mask and costume. Dancers do a mournful sideways step, said to imitate the men dragging chains bound to their legs.
Caporales take their name from the corporals or foremen who brutally oversaw the gangs of African and Indian laborers during the colonial period. The aggressive, highly choreographed performance of the male and female dancers reinforces this role, using music derived from Afro-Bolivian percussion rhythms. The beat is accentuated by strings of bells worn on the men's legs, a practice also borrowed from Afro-Bolivian traditions.
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