The gymnasium at St. Patrick’s School in Newburgh was transformed on Sunday by dozens of dancers dressed in elaborate ceremonial costumes who came to celebrate the feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Hundreds of Mexican immigrants crowded into the room to be part of the homage to the virgin who is known as the Queen of Mexico.
In this traditional dance, males and females circled a woman holding a portrait of the virgin.
Earlier, dozens of people had stayed in the church over night, where they held a vigil for the virgin and performed dances in the Aztec tradition. A planned procession through the streets was cancelled due to the driving rainstorms and concerns by the police about maintaining safety along the route.
In this dance called Culebra, or Snake, male and female dancers formed lines that keeping intertwining.
A crowd of several hundred people gathered in the gymnasium shortly after noon to watch a large-screen projection of a Mass held earlier in the day at the Basilica of the Virgin in Mexico. Then, a statue of the virgin and a large portrait of her were carried in by porters, along with the U.S. and Mexican flags.
Along with the sacred objects, hundreds more people entered the gymnasium and filled every available space. Many of the women carried large bouquets of flowers and roses to offer to the Virgin. The master of ceremonies called out to the crowd and asked people to identify the countries they came from. People waved their arms at the words “Guatemala,” “Honduras,” “El Salvador,” “Peru,” but the largest group were from Puebla, Mexico, and they whooped when their region was announced.
The centerpiece of the event arrived shortly afterwards, the United Dancers of Newburgh, who had been rehearsing traditional dances for weeks. One of the leaders of the Mexican committee at the church had brought costumes and masks from Mexico just days earlier and the room was taken over by the spirit of that country for the next hour. The final dance featured men wearing masks that traditionally represent the Spanish conquerors of the Aztec people. It began with the entrance of a dancer in a leopard costume who cracked a big whip seemed to try to command the other dancers who moved in rhythm to the sound of a traditional drum and pipe that is heard at ceremonies throughout rural Mexico.
The crowd was entranced by the performances and no one wanted the dancing to end, even though a meal of Mexican food awaited all the guests at the feast of Guadalupe celebration.
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