Danza Folklorica (Traditional Mayan Folk Dancing)

I was planning on doing another ordinary school visit when I was told that one of my ten schools was hosting a cultural performance day so to speak where students from different schools would recite poems, sing songs, and do traditional dances. This turned out to be amazing. My "workday" consisted of walking 20 minutes to my closest school and from 8-12:30 watching children artistically showcase their Guatemalan and Mayan heritage. In my area almost everyone can speak at least a little K'iche' and for a lot of people it is their first language. I don't think that this event fell on a special day (Guatemalan independence day is September 15), but clearly SO MUCH time and effort was put into this event. One of the more unusual performances was the dance of the monkeys (pictures 5 and 6). The kids who performed wore the most beautiful traditional clothing and the outfits were so ornate. The more I know of it the more I am in awe of the beautiful Mayan culture and I feel so lucky to be living here among it. I am also very grateful that almost everyone in my town and in the schools I work in speaks Spanish!

A mix of traditional and modern clothing 

Traditional huipil (top) and corte (skirt)