The Dead Dancing in Latin Style

Tuesday, 03 November 2015
By Araceli Llamas Sánchez

Dances like salsa, cumbia, bachata and Latin music made everyone move their bones, no matter if they were still alive or dead.

That was how the Mexican celebration, "The Day of the Dead" (Día de los Muertos) was used to bring the Latin community together as well as the other nationalities living in Brisbane.

Even though Día de los Muertos is an ancestral celebration in Mexico to remember people who have already gone, the Latin American Community in Australia (LACA-QLD) held their own festival last Saturday 31 October on Russell street, West End. 

A mixture of costumes, all related to the dead and traditional outfits of Latin American countries formed a colourful environment along the street, where some stands were showing handicrafts and offering dishes like arepas, burritos, and empanadas from Colombia, Mexico and Chile, respectively.

An altar with offerings like flowers, fruit, sugar skulls and candles was set up to remember the memory of dead personalities like Frida Kahlo, Cantinflas, Nelson Mandela, Robin Williams and others. There was also a place to express some political views represented through a poster which made reference to the 43 students missing in Mexico.

In addition to that, there was a Donald Trump piñata which demonstrated rejection of the businessman's statements which offended the Mexican people.

The main moment occurred during the parade where a mixture of Brazilian music and Bolivian costumes exposed the exuberance of the Mexican tradition which celebrates the dead. Gigantic skeletons, white faces and skull banners featured in this multicultural festival that not only joined the Latin American countries with Australians, but the living with the dead.