La Danza de los Viejitos

You start to hear the slow rhythmic sound of the guitars and violins, it starts to speed up. The four dancers start to move with the rhythms of the song. They dress in white manta – a type of fabric- adorned with cross-stick embroidery, a colorful sarape, a mask resembling an old man, huaraches, and a hat covered with colored silk ribbons. Onlookers stop and take in a beautiful sight, their dance known internationally as la danza de los viejitos. A once private ceremony honoring the sun god, is now an international phenomenon. Hundreds of thousands of visitors annually visit Patzcuaro, Michoacán, Mexico, but how did this intimate ceremony become a globalized wonder?