Los Diablos Danzantes

The devil wears vibrant shades of red and yellow, as well as papier-mâché masks, in towns in Venezuela during the Catholic feast of Corpus Christi. As churchgoers leave mass, they are surrounded by hundreds of devils dancing to deafening drumbeats and the rattle of maracas. In a tradition that dates back to 1742, the costumed dancers “purify” the town of evil with a stomping, whirling ritual that mixes indigenous, African, and Spanish movements. The dance symbolizes the eternal struggle between good and evil, though good wins out in the end. After winding their way through the streets and into stores and houses, the devils receive presents from the people inside.