Diablada in Chile

Diablada during the Tirana festivity in Chile.

The Diablada dance was bought to northern Chile by Bolivian saltpeter miners and forms nowadays part of the Tirana festivities, or Fiesta de La Tirana. The town of La Tirana is located at 84 kilometres from the city of Iquique with a population of less than 400 inhabitants but during the week of the festivities, which are held in the week of 12 to 16 July, it receives nearly 120,000 visitors.^[1]

The sanctuary of the Virgin of Carmen was built in the region in the year 1540 and since then the festival is made in her honour in that locality with different dances.^[1]

There are two kinds of squad organization:

• Ancient type: with a structure not too differenced, traditional type authority, paternalistic, religiously guarantee, The power is in one person who is representative of a familiar clan.^[1]

• Modern type: has a differenced internal structure, with defined statutes and rules. Tend to be named dance society. There are managers and a director, they are responsible of the social life of the group. There is the figure of the Caporal as well, who has the authority with respect to the religious activities.^[1]

The first Diablada squad in Chile was founded in the city of Iquique by Gregorio Ordenes in 1956 under the name of Primera Diablada Servidores Virgen del Carmen after the visit of the Bolivian squad Diablada Ferroviaria to the festival of that year.^[2]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "Danzas ceremoniales del área cultural del Norte [Ceremonial dances of the northern cultural area]" (in Spanish). Chile: Hamaycan. http://www.hamaycan.cl/danzasceremoniales.htm. Retrieved 8 April 2010. 
2. ^ "El folclor de Chile y sus tres grandes raíces [The Chile’s folklore and its three great roots]" (in Spanish). Memorias Chilenas. 2004. http://www.memoriachilena.cl/temas/dest.asp?id=folclor3diablada. Retrieved 9 December 2009.