'Muerteadas' portray death can be as joyful as life
People wearing masks attend a Muerteada parade in San Jose, Mexico, on Nov. 2. Mexicans in the Oaxacan town celebrate the traditional Muerteada, a theatrical recreation that is performed through the night of November 1 until the early morning of the following day, with dances and music parading through the streets, while telling the story of how a deceased person is resurrected with the help of a priest, a doctor and a spiritist.
(AP Photo/Maria Alferez)
SAN AGUSTÍN ETLA, México (AP) — Daniel Dávila knew he would become a devil at age 12.
He prepares his costume weeks ahead of Day of the Dead celebrations in San Agustín Etla, in southwest Mexico, where families take to the streets on Nov. 1 to remember how death can be as joyful as life.
In the state of Oaxaca, where the 33-year-old lives, "muerteadas" are part of a festival that stretches for several nights and locals regard as part of their identity. Each celebration differs from one town to another, but most take off at the main church, where participants and musicians sing to honor their local saints. Afterward, volunteers like Dávila take part in a theatrical representation in which a spiritist, one special character with supernatural capabilities, brings a dead man back to life.
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