LOS DIABLETES

The Diabletes of Teguise form one of the oldest traditions of the Canary Islands, being a cultural product that mixes ancestral aboriginal beliefs with elements of Catholicism and essences from superstition and witchcraft to popular. There is documentary evidence of its existence since the late fifteenth century, when a significant group of Moorish slaves were established in Teguise. The dances of diablets were interpreted by shepherds on the night that separates Christmas from the Epiphany a, especially on the night of December 31.

Later they danced at the Corpus Christi party to the sound of Berber-inspired music. Its members dance, jump and make races after the children. They symbolize the struggle between good and evil, typical of the feast of Corpus Christi.

His clothes remind the male goat, allegor of virility and survival. The clothing consists of pants and camisole, before linen, currently white muslin painted with rhombuses with a dot in the center, black and red. They wear a mask that represents a male goat. Previously, on the head they wore a skin that hung to the ground, called the devil's skin; Today it is made of cloth painted with rhombuses. The shoes are espadrilles. They also carry crossed straps on their backs where they hang shells, before cowbells, and brass and wood rattles and, in the hand a scribble with a zurr n. Traditionally, the dancers were paid and provided with clothing.

Rosal to Sp nola Aldana gave the mask some ...