Day of the Dead 2
Posted on November 3, 2002
in Festivals Photos
It looked as if
the calacas I’ve been collecting all these years vivified. They came from all walks of life, these dancing skeletons with the flesh on the inside did: plumed warriors and fertility goddesses sprung from the walls of MesoAmerican reliefs; smirking clergymen; pompous inquisitors; a pot-bellied monk; a primping bride and her groom; a pumpkin boy; lovely flamenco dancers ready to segúe into an osteal bolero; a bizarre ballerina of many colors (who turned out to be half Chinese); scrawny children who almost didn’t need the white paint for their imposture of the dead; and a strange figure with a peaked cap who I could not decide if it was a wizard or a witch. (In death, we all look alike.) They gathered before the cross at the entrance of Olvera Street and, when the signal was given, broke into a frenetic dance accompanied by pounding drums and paraded between the souvenir stalls and buildings which are the oldest structures in this City of the Angels.
This photo of the little girl pointing at “the man” is one of my personal favorites from this series.
