An American in Lima

Masked dancer at Qoyllur Rit’i festival, Peru, 2006

 El Fotografo spied this guy at the 2006 pilgrimage. He embodies the fertility cult that underpins the festival’s Catholic traditions, which have been sycretized with older, Andean rituals.

I find this image rather terrifying, for some reason.

We looked again for the Sheep’s Head Dancer this past May but didn’t see hide nor hair of him, as they say.

—Barbara R. Drake

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2. Photo of a Pilgrimage Leader photo c. Jorge Vera 2009 Alejandro is from Santiago...
3. I End up Doing the Whipping Dance Doing the Yawar Mayu dance with a dancer from...
4. Getting Our Bearings Back after Qoyllur Rit’i Back in Lima today after four days and three nights...
5. Photo of the Day: Boats at Lake Llanganuco, Peru photo by Barbara Drake 2009 We visited this lake...

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