In this excerpt, Maestro Andrés describes the meaning of the Congo tradition and several of its major characters.
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Carlos Chavarria Importance of Congo for Community Pride
In this excerpt, Chavarría talks about the importance of the Congo tradition and Congo dance to the community’s sense of pride and self. He urges young people to maintain the power of their traditions and to stay anchored to their sense of “place” and home.
Carlos Chavarria Most Important Things to Know about Congo in Portobelo
In this excerpt, Chavarría responds to the question, “One hundred years in the future when scholars are studying the Congo tradition in Portobelo, what are the most important things that they should know?”
Carlos Chavarria Becoming Major Devil
In this excerpt, Chavarría discusses the process by which he became Major Devil in the Congo tradition of Portobelo, Panama.
Simona Esquina Changes to the Role of the Pajarito
In this excerpt, Esquina discusses the changes she has seen in the Congo tradition over the course of her lifetime. Specifically, she talks about the role that Pajarito, the Little Bird, once played in the Congo game, and the ways in which the character and the game have shifted. The construction of the road signaled the end of the game as one between neighboring Congo Kingdoms who competed to capture each others’ palacio/palenque. The contemporary game is between the discrete Congo communities and the character of the devil.
Simona Esquina Changes to the Role of the Princess
In this excerpt, Esquina discusses the changes she has seen in the Congo tradition over the course of her lifetime. Specifically, she talks about the role that the princess character once played.
Simona Esquina Changes to the Role of the King
In this excerpt, Esquina discusses the changes she has seen in the Congo tradition over the course of her lifetime. Specifically, she talks about the ways in which the king’s role has diminished since her father once played it.
Simona Esquina Memory of Father as Congo King
In this excerpt, Esquina recounts watching her father, Vicente Esquina, get dressed as the Congo King and accompanying him to the palenque/palacio to play Congo. Memories of her father’s participation as king mark some of Esquina’s earliest recollections of the tradition.
Simona Esquina Razor Blades in Devil Whips
In this excerpt, Esquina discusses the changes she has seen in the Congo tradition over the course of her lifetime. Specifically, she talks about changes that she has witnessed in ways in which younger practitioners who perform the role of devil in other communities sometimes put razor blades in their whips, which violates the nature of the game.
Simona Esquina Changes to the Congo Tradition
In this excerpt, Esquina discusses the changes she has seen in the Congo tradition over the course of her lifetime. Specifically, she talks about the rare existence of two palacios in 2003 and the shifting commitment of Congo practitioners who once participated in the tradition exclusively and without interruption during carnival season before the road was constructed in the early 1970s, which connected Portobelo and the rest of the Coasta Arriba to the broader Republic.