‘Dancers of death’ carry coffins and defy the pain of goodbye in Peru

They carry death on their shoulders as they dance to the sounds of a village band. On the way to the cemetery, four men perform choreography with a coffin in a funeral practice that took root in northern Peru.

The so-called “death dancers” resemble the “dancing pallbearers”, the famous Ghanaian pallbearers and dancers whose image went viral during the pandemic.

“It’s not a job that has a monthly salary, it’s a casual job, but every time we get together, we try to do our best. It has already become a tradition throughout Norte Chico,” Alex Canales, director of the company Carregadores Fúnebres in Huacho, a coastal city 148 km from Lima, told AFP.

Some funeral companies began offering this service eight years ago, taking advantage of the fact that, in many rural regions of Peru, farewells to the dead tend to be more festive than solemn, explains Canales, one of the pioneers of the business.

The practice spread from Huacho, with 171,000 inhabitants, to other cities, such as Huaral, Barranca and Huarmey.

Huacho shippers carry out up to 20 services per month, at a cost of US$106 per order (539 reais), explains its director.

– “Remember him with joy” –

In early May, Marcelino Jamanca, a local farmer, died of cancer at the age of 72.

Four bearers wearing white shirts, gray pants and ties took the coffin out of the house where he was laid to rest and carried it on their shoulders through the streets and through the square of Humaya, a neighborhood in Huacho, to the rhythm of dances such as the huayno, the marinera and cumbia played by a village band.

Two other men took control. “We mourn his passing, but we have to remember him with joy, as that was what he loved most, music,” said Grace Florentine, granddaughter of the deceased.

The service lasted about an hour and a half, between pauses for funeral honors and a change of pace.

The porters are university students, factory workers or motorcycle taxi drivers who rehearse in their free time. They can carry up to 300 pounds on their shoulders. Some have already been injured during a procession.

“It’s hard work, because there are some (deceased) people who are heavy, but we have to give it our all (the dance),” says Alexis Marengo, a 35-year-old porter.

Marcelino Jamanca even had beer splashed on his coffin at his farewell. Now the last goodbye “is with joy”, says dancer Jack Minaya, 25 years old, in one of the short pauses of the singular rite.