Learn about the dance of the Otomi shepherdesses, its importance and the great popular festival around the faith.
All the people are arriving, they carry liters and liters of mole, tortillas, chicken pieces, beer, soft drinks, flavored water, ice cream. In the background, mass is heard, the parishioners congregate. It is the community of San Ildefonso and it is an important day: the feast of its patron saint.
The offerings shine everywhere, the mass and the procession revive the faith, while expectantly, the residents pay respect to the celebration of San Ildefonso. It's January 24 and despite the sunshine, the weather is cool. After the procession comes the dance with its beats.
There are 16 sounds that the musicians play and the drum is the one that carries the order. Only women participate in the largest dance, there are about 20 women, although there is a small group of five men, in a corner of the esplanade of the main temple. However, girls, adults, old women, of all ages, dance belongs to women and they carry the rhythm, joy, faith and interest of the spectators.
They proudly wear a typical costume made by themselves. The hat is colorful, it doesn't go unnoticed, it's so ornamental and colorful, with those bows, those flowers and those ribbons that cascade down her dress. In hand goes the cane with a helmet, symbolizing the shepherdesses and also looks colorful.
Then it's time to eat. The food is happily offered and then those buckets full of mole are opened, the people – plate in hand – pounce on the porters who offer to their brothers, from other towns, from neighboring towns, from distant towns. And the party continues, with the verbena and the mechanical games where the children are happy and shout and sing. And there, in San Ildefonso, an Otomi tradition that cheers people's hearts is preserved and preserved.
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