Spectacular Ritual

In Puerto Villarta this ritual was performed by members of a tribe that originated in Vera Cruz. They were attired in a red and black pant with a balloon leg and fitted cuff, a white shirt, and wore a beaded red cummerbund. The brimless red and black hat they wore had long streamers of ribbon for the effect.

The first man was perched atop the pole wrapping four ropes around the top of the pole above a wooden platform. Next, four men scaled to the top and took a seat on the platform. Each man attached a rope to their ankle. The person who wrapped the ropes remained on the top of the pole. He began beating on a drum to a rythmn and the four men rolled backward from the wooden platform and began circling the post hanging by their feet whirling as the ropes began to unwind. In a period of approximately three minutes they were standing on the ground.

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