Danza de los Voladores de Papantla means- Dance of Papantla’s Flyers. Paplanta is the name of a small town in Veracruz, Mexico. I was so excited to visit Mexico recently, and was curious to see this traditional Mexican dance and to find out what it was all about. Five men were dressed in festive, colorful clothes and had on colorful hats. Each was on top of a very long pole and had rope tied around one foot. As they sat on the pole various Mexican instruments were played such as, a carrizo flute, a tamborcillo, and maracas.

I must be honest, I was a little bored at first as I sat listening to the music, looking up at those men thinking, “Well are they going to do anything?” The fact that they were extremely high and had rope tied to one foot made me uneasy! Then the music stopped and shortly after that four men went plunging backwards, spinning down toward the earth as the rope unraveled. It was a very simple dance in terms of technique, yet quite over the top with regards to boldness.  

What’s the point? (That’s what I was wondering.) Well, I learned that each of the five men represented the five elements of the world- Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Space. The rope that was wrapped around the pole unraveled 13 times for each of the four flyers and is symbolic of the 52 weeks of the year.

I definitely got the sense that the tradition of this dance is important to the people of Mexico, because of the clapping and shouts of excitement that came from the Mexican residents. Later on that evening I went to a show and that same dance of the Papantla flyers was performed. I was just thrilled to be able to experience dance in another country! Check out the fabulous pictures taken by my friend Kandrea Higgins.     

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