When Women Fly - Aquí las mujeres también vuelan

The Danza de los Voladores ("Dance of the Flying Men") is an ancient Mesoamerican ritual still performed today in Cuetzalan del Progreso, Mexico. It’s traditionally a male-dominated practice but has seen a recent increase in female practitioners.

The ritual begins with a ceremonial dance. The 5 participants then ascend a 30-metre pole and jump off the top, head first, tied to ropes as they revolve around the pole towards the ground. Women have been excluded from this flying performance for years. However, in recent years a few women in the municipality of Cuetzalan have finally joined the practice of the flying dance, breaking the ancient tradition.

I have carried out academic fieldwork in Cuetzalan as an anthropologist and worked on different projects with the local community since 2013. When I realised that women were involved and allowed to participate in the flying dance I felt inspired. I had seen many visual projects about the Danza de los Voladores but none of them highlighted the female participation in the dance.

With my work, I hope to celebrate the daily lives of the flying women of Cuetzalan and show their balance between being mothers, sisters, daughters, workers but also proud voladoras.

Featured in National Geographic and The Guardian