Pocho Ceremony

We were on the bus ready to move out at 7:45 this morning driving from Villahermosa to Palenque to check in to our Hotel then on to Tenosique to witness the Pocho Ceremony and dance. This is performed on Sunday before Lent begins and symbolizes the purification of man's spirit through the struggle between good and evil. This may be a mixture of Maya mythology and Christianity. The ceremony also seems to have some significant elements of two Maya Calenders, Tzolkin and Haab. Old beliefs hold that the five day interval needed to justify the two calenders are auspicious and auguries of these days are observed with reverence. (We want emphasize that we are not experts and may have just enough information to be dangerous :) )

The first collage is of the costumes of the dancers and the crowds of people both participants and audience. We wondered if the performance would ever begin and sat down at a table under an awning to rest a bit. Participants began to assemble after about three hours. With lots of noise, horns and drums enhanced by loud speakers, dancers filled the arena in a great flood and danced around in a counter clockwise circle shoulder to shoulder. This proceeded with lots of shouting, yelling ,waving of sticks and spraying some sort of white powder over the audience. Organized pandemonium in general!


As we were watching from the back of the crowd (lower right above) a woman approached us and asked in English if we were trying to see. We replied in the affirmative; she said "Come with me" and led us to some steps behind us, motioned to people standing there to move to make room for us! All of them did so with big smiles much to our surprise! This put us up high enough to see over the throng of spectators. The dance wound down after about 15 minutes, and the dancers began to leave the arena. Our kind lady came back, took us by the arm, led us inside the arena to take pictures. The pictures below show some of the performers we photographed. Our Lady is shown in a green blouse and black pants in the lower left corner of the collage. We assumed that some of these dancers were family and friends.



As we left the area, a young man approached and tried to hand us a DVD.. We thought he was trying to sell it and decline his offer. He replied, "Gift! Free!" with a big smile. Later when we played it on the bus system we discovered it was a recording of the ceremony we had just witnessed! We felt we had been treated royally!!