Everything revolves around folklore in the Panamanian carnival
The Panama Carnival it has circled so many times since its creation more than a century ago that I was already dizzy. It was always the quintessential party of Panamanians, who enjoyed it in small groups with friends in the neighborhoods or in the interior towns. However, for a few years this celebration has grown as fleetingly as the skyscrapers on its horizon thanks to an interest in unify the tastes of a heterogeneous society , who slowly digests the progress his country has made since they regained control of the Canal in 2000. The consequence is satisfying: a party man with the peculiarities of Panamanians.
The first is the question of carnival queen . It is not that this figure has been invented here, far from it, but they have given it a special look. In Panama, girls do want to be princesses. For every school there is a modeling school where from the earliest childhood the illusion of every Panamanian is fed: to be Miss World, Miss Universe or Miss Something. And a fundamental step to achieve this is to be named the queen of the carnival, since this year she also has the honor of being the Miss Panama for Miss World (which is the version in which the candidates have to prove they have more neurons than a brick). So she breaks with the stereotype of a voluptuous woman with pronounced curves to become the ambassador of a country. That is why it is surprising to see on top of the main float a simple, beautiful and very diplomatic girl who knows protocol and smiles everywhere. The carnival begins weeks before with a television program where the queen is chosen with the consequent rush of also being the candidate to rule the planet (from beauty, of course).
Panama, carnival version
The simple character, of local or neighborhood proportions of the carnival It has its expression today but adapted to offices. On the Friday before the party, the workers of the largest companies dismiss the working hours with a guerrilla between two troupes (called Calle Arriba and Calle Baja for their humble origins) with their respective queens. The fight consists of knowing if the financial ones, for example, are capable of making more noise and dancing better than the commercial ones. To do this, they divide into two and walk around the outskirts of the office, drawing the attention of passers-by. climax comes in the moment of bump , when both groups meet and delirium breaks out, with jumps, dances and strident music in which the metals strive to govern the other's eardrum. Of course, the following Wednesday everyone will continue to be as friends as before.
The mornings before the fashion shows are the ideal prelude to everything a day of non-stop carnival . And it is that, by inheritance of the customs of the little towns of the interior, in the City the culecos or mojaderas are also celebrated . Basically, it consists of the crowd cheering for the music while they wait for the water to fall on them from huge cisterns that make the hottest moments of midday bearable. It may seem like something very basic, very cheap solutions in times of scarcity, but this poor invention is today the differentiating color point of these carnivals . After all, thanks to the culecos the party doesn't have to stop and the sensuality of the water running through the young bodies invites future rewards...
A good 'mojadera', the best to withstand high temperatures
Time for parades . These are done in the Coastal Ribbon , a modern area at the foot of the aluminum giants. Great blame for the success of this latest revision of the carnivals is its security , since the fairground is fenced and its accesses are controlled to the millimeter by the police. This fact reassures the families, who come ecstatic to the dance of color. Because the carnival in Panama, unlike others in tropical climates (read Brazil), it's a family party , where sexuality is not manifested in any way.
It is simply endless floats of fluorescent colors populated by different women. There is, of course, the queen, whose role it is to keep her hips moving steadily and the smile on her face as people stare at her in awe (as if she were E.T.) or wave affectionately from a distance. And here comes the curious thing, In the rest of the floats, the different Misses related to Panama appear throughout the planet. And it is that this fever for being the most beautiful transcends borders, achieving that there is a Miss Panama for the city of New York (chosen among the emigrants of the Big Apple) or for the USA.
Parades non stop mode
Comparsas swarm among the large floats, groups of dancers and musicians who give everything to transmit their joy. Yes, okay, they are subsidized, but we must recognize that walking miles and miles leaving the drops of energy to infect the staff has its merit. They are not excessively professional, many of them come from the marginal neighborhoods of the City but, even so, the effort makes up for everything by giving away unforgettable moments in which the public merges to accompany the repetitive but hypnotic dance.
The theme of the parades varies every day, although in Panama they feel more comfortable with everything that has to do with their folklore. The Don Carnal festival has always served as an excuse for Panamanians to exhibit their rich culture, so the subjects respond better when they see their queen dressed in the very expensive handmade skirts (they cost up to €8,000). That is why they are not such fans of the tiny dresses and micro bikinis that can be assumed at a carnival in a warm zone. Here eroticism is reserved for intimacy, although, yes, the data shows that there is usually a little baby boom nine months after ash wednesday . Why will it be?
To the sound of folk dance, repetitive and hypnotic