The Dance of the Devils, or Game of the Devils, is a ritual and performative expression practiced by Afro-Mexican communities of the Costa Chica region of Guerrero and Oaxaca that reveals the importance of the African legacy in Mexico. Its origins date back to the colonial period and the viceroyalty, when Afro-descendant and Indigenous populations developed syncretic ritual forms to preserve cultural memories, recreate community ties, and symbolically resist the conditions of exploitation imposed by Spaniards and hacienda owners.
This dance is performed during the Day of the Dead festivities (October 31 to November 2), when the deceased return to the earthly world. Although the dance retains African remnants, these are principally linked to Kalunga, the god of death, the sea, and fertility. In order to incorporate the dead, the dancers dress in rags and wear zoomorphic masks or masks of bearded devils made of wood, cardboard, glue, and horse hair. The Senior Devil (Diablo Mayor) leads the group and wears the attire of a foreman (caporal); he is accompanied by the Minga, a male character who embodies a seductive woman.
The participants perform rhythmic footwork to the melodies of an ensemble composed of the charrasca (the jawbone of a donkey or horse, a percussion instrument played in the manner of a güiro), violin, harmonica, and the bote or tigrera. This latter instrument is a friction drum considered to be of African origin. It consists of a hollow gourd with a lateral opening that serves as a resonating chamber; the gourd is mounted on a vine hoop tied with cord. Its opening is covered with a membrane (tightly stretched goatskin, formerly deerhide), to which a vertical rod coated with Campeche wax is attached. Some contemporary musicians in the Oaxacan region place a rattlesnake rattle alongside the rod. The musician produces vibrations by rubbing the rod.
Some anthropologists describe the sound of the bote as the voices of the god Kalunga and of the dead, which set in motion the cycle of life and death. As part of a symbolic framework linked to fertility, the friction of the rod would represent sexual intercourse. Other interpretations likewise maintain that the sound is equated with the roar of a feline (a leopard or jaguar) associated with power. Although much work remains to be done to decipher its symbolism, there is little doubt that the bote, through its sounds, gives expression to the identity and memory of Afro-descendant communities.