The Three Kings, and culture - CacaoFest 2010
CacaoFest's closing day provided a day of culture at the atmosph
eric Maya site of Lubaantun, with an early performance of the Monkey Dance, followed by archaeological talks and presentations, more dancing, our grand raffle, and then the fabulous Festival Finale concert with "The Three Kings of Belize", accompanied by Carlos Perotte.
The Monkey Dance was performed by the villagers of San Jose for the first time in over 20 years. While some say that it can be performed to influence the outcome of the corn harvest, it is the depiction of a Maya legend concerning a great flood and how monkeys were created.
Event timings:
| 11.00 am 12.15 pm 1.00 pm 2.00 pm 3.30 pm 4.00 pm | Opening performance of the Monkey Dance Performed by the villagers of San Jose Archaeology presentation by Dr Geoff Braswell learn more about the TRIPS Team excavations and findings at Lubaantun Crystal Skull presentation by Dr Jaime Awe Fact or fiction? Come and find out the truth about the "Skull of Doom" for yourself! Second performance of the Monkey Dance One of the oldest Maya dances, with a special introduction by Dr Jaime Awe Grand Raffle Finale concert with the "Three Kings of Belize" What a way to round off the Festival, with Toledo's very own Paul Nabor and Florencio Mes, Mr Peters from the Belize District, all accompanied by the wonderful Carlos Perotte |
The legend and story of the Monkey Dance, as told by Lorenzo Peck from San Jose to his grandson, Richard
In ancient times the earth suffered an immense flood. The inhabitants of mother earth were befuddled, and some of the men and a young boy (Ch'iip) climbed up into the trees to escape the torrent. They stayed in the trees for a prolonged period waiting for the flood to subside, and changed into howler monkeys (b'aatz') and spider monkeys (ma'ax). The ladies and girls stayed on the ground, and in Maya tradition even today few girls climb trees.
When the waters receded the monkeys came down from the trees and, happy to be alive, their king (Mam) gathered them together to ask them to dance to celebrate their survival, and depict how they survived the great flood. At this stage the monkeys retained the power of speech, but because we lost contact with them they forgot how to converse.
Because only the men climbed trees and became monkeys, the dance troupe is all male, with seven howler monkeys wearing black masks, and seven spider monkeys wearing black masks, along with the King. A wooden framework is erected either side of the arena to represent their forest home, with each dancer planting their own post (usually a makapal tree, for durability and lightness), and constructing 7 layers.
The performance began with the King being stoned with fruits and seeds by the monkeys in the trees, and the dance was then largely performed by pairs of monkeys dancing to 12 different marimba and guitar tunes. The King also danced with the boy monkey who, as a child, didn't have sufficient knowledge to perform on his own and hence mimicked the King.