Ximena and her brother Nico as Chinelos

1 maart 2012 - Tepoztlán, Mexico

This is the traditional "Chinelo": during Carnaval, people who have the outfit put them on and go "brincar" (the traditional dance, see video) in town. From 4 different neighbourhoods there's a big band playing, all the Chinelo's and other (not dressed-up) people are dancing around it. For these 4 days they remove all the markets stands from the big market square. This big open place is where the bands from the 4 neighbourhoods meet and everybody is dancing (and drinking) together.
The outfit: they make fun of the Spanish people (conquerors) by pretending to be them -> the mask. The big black dress and hat is to make them look bad and on their backs they all where a sort of 'cape' with a painting/drawing on it that refers to the original inhabitants of Mexico - e.g. the Aztecs

Deze foto werd gemaakt op 1 maart 2012 in Tepoztlán, Mexico.

Preparing goodbye class Jakob at our house

Carnaval in Tepoztlan with Tashirat kids