DANCING IN THE HEIGHTS
A TOTONACA STORY
This is the result of a profound encounter with the Totonaca Community, one of the sixty two indigenous groups in Mexico.
Through their dances, colorful rituals and music, they awakened in me the longing to enter into the mystery of their sacred ceremonies and traditions. Therefore this project became the way to tell their story, giving their voices a space to resonate and share their knowledge.









Their captivating rituals are full of symbolism. In their dances the circle is a recurrent symbol, reminding us the perfection in cycles, the unity and the totality in life. In the Voladores ritual, the flying pole, represents the union between the sky and the earth; it is the link between the sacred world and the earthly realm. The sound of the flute combined with the drum and the smell of copal (a sacred incense) transport us into another dimension, where the magical and the mythical are the dominant structures of consciousness, where once a reverential relationship existed with the natural world as the realm of the gods.


Today, the Totonacas are fully awake to the valuable wisdom that has been transmitted from generation to generation through rituals and oral tradition. They want to share with us their unique view, their ancient ceremonies and their struggle to integrate the old with the new, keeping their traditions and their language alive.




