Raíces Ensemble and Student Performers: Los Vejigantes de Puerto Rico

Raíces Ensemble and Student Performers: Los Vejigantes de Puerto Rico

Afropuertorican
plena
los vejigantes

Performance by the Raíces Cultural Center Ensemble with Raícitas student performers. Sharing the tradition of Los Vejigantes de Puerto Rico with the students at the Greater Brunswick Charter School in New Brunswick. A vejigante is a clown-like character who appears in festival celebrations of Puerto Rico. Traditional colors of the Vejigantes were black, red, white, and yellow. Today, vejigantes wear brightly colored, ornate masks (mascaras) of all colors and a costume with bat-like wings. The word vejigante comes from the words vejiga (bladder) and gigante (giant), due to custom of blowing up and painting cow bladders. Bystanders are often tapped with the bladders during the processional. The masks are often linked to many festivals that continue today, especially in the cities of Loíza and Ponce.

© Vanessa Jones

en

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Digital Image

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