They carry death on their shoulders while they dance to the music of a village band. On the way to the cemetery, four men perform choreography with a coffin in a funeral practice that took root in the north of Peru.
The calls “dancers of death” evoke the “dancing pallbearers”the famous Ghanaians who carry coffins and dance at the same time, whose image went viral in the pandemic.
The new form of burials in Peru
“It is not a job that has a monthly payment, it is a temporary job, but every time we meet we try to do our best. It has already become a tradition throughout the northern part of the country,” Alex Canales tells AFP, director of the Funeral Chargers company of Huacho, a coastal city 148 km from Lima.
Some funeral companies began offering this service eight years agotaking advantage of the fact that in several rural parts of Peru the farewell to the dead is usually more festive than solemn, explains Canales, one of the pioneers of the business. The practice spread to Huacho, with 171,000 inhabitantsto other cities such as Huaral, Barranca and Huarmey.
The Huacho chargers They carry out up to 20 services per monthat a cost of $106 per order, explains its director.
What is the service provided by the “dancers of death”?
At the beginning of May, Marcelino Jamanca, a farmer in the area, died of cancer at the age of 72.
Four bearers with white shirts, pants and gray ties took the coffin out of the house where it was laid to rest and carried it on their shoulders through the streets. and Plaza de Humaya, a sector of Huacho, to the rhythm of dances such as the huayno, the marinera and the cumbia played by a village band. Two other men took over. “His departure pains us, but we must remember him happily, It was what he liked the most, the music,” said Grace Florentine, granddaughter of the deceased.
The service lasted approximately an hour and a half. between the pauses for the funeral services and the change of pace. The porters are university students, factory workers or motorcycle taxi drivers who rehearse in their free time. They can carry up to 130 kilos on their shoulders. Some were injured during a procession.
“It is a tough job, because There are some (deceased) who are annoying, but we have to give it (the dance) with enthusiasm,” says Alexis Marengo, a 35-year-old porter. Marcelino Jamanca was finally fired with streams of beer on his coffin. Now the last goodbye “is with joy,” comments dancer Jack Minaya, 25, in one of the short pauses of the unique rite.
Source: Ambito
