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Bolivia’s Oruro Carnival begins this Saturday. The famous festival declared Intangible Oral Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO is a festival of folk dances in which 30,000 dancers and 10,000 musicians participate and attracts 400,000 visitors each year. But participating in this celebration dedicated to the Virgin requires extremely meticulous organization. Paris Galán and his troupe show in this report for RFI how they prepare for this great popular festival.
A report by French-language RFI correspondent Alice Campaignolle
Illampu street, in the heart of La Paz, Bolivia. This is where Paris Galán buys the fabrics for her group: “Here I buy the aguayos, the typical fabric for women’s suits,” she explains. “The suit will be black, with an orange heart on the chest.”
After visiting three stores, shopping is not over. Still need to go with the shoemaker to get the boots and with the hatter. But for now, this is the company’s last rehearsal before the big day.
There are so many dances, about forty different dances: the morenada, Los Caporales, the tinku… Folklore has always been present in my life.
The folkloric group of Paris Galán dances the kullawada, the dance of the weavers. But dancing in Oruro does not just mean that you like to dance, explains Rosario: “I like to dance. But it is a folkloric-religious festival, so there is a large part of faith and devotion in what we do.”
After all these preparations, the troop has everything ready: costumes, boots, hats, choreography. This Saturday, February 18 at five in the afternoon, they will begin to parade.
Also read:
The second life of Rio Carnival costumes
AFP
Report in Spanish of the Oruro Carnival of 2013 by Reza Nourmamode:
Bolivia: Oruro to the rhythm of carnival