In Peru, the funeral service of the “dancers of death”

They carry a coffin on their shoulders while dancing. On the way to the cemetery, "the dancers of death" perform choreographies carrying the deceased to the grave. his final resting place, an ancestral funeral practice from northern Peru which is developing in the Andean country.

“It's not a fixed job, it's occasional, but every time we get together we try to do our best. It's a tradition throughout Norte Chico,” Alex Canales told AFP , director of the company “Porteurs funeral de Huacho”, a town located on the coast 148 km north of Lima.

Alex Canales, director of the company “Funeral Porters”, on May 2, 2024 in Huacho, Peru © AFP – Ernesto BENAVIDES

Like the festive farewell to the dead practiced in many rural regions of Peru, funeral companies like his began offering this service a little less than 10 years ago, explains Mr. Canales, one of the pioneers of this entrepreneurial activity.

And from Huacho, 171,000 inhabitants, The practice extended beyond, to Huaral, Barranca and Huarmey.

– “With joy” –

Funeral pallbearers dance while carrying the coffin of Marcelino Jamanca during his funeral in Huacho, May 2, 2024 in Peru © AFP – Ernesto BENAVIDES

For the funeral in early May of Marcelino Jamanca, a 72-year-old farmer who died of cancer, four pallbearers in white shirts, gray pants and ties carried his coffin from his house to the cemetery through the streets of Huacho, to the rhythms of dances such as huayno, marinera and cumbia, and to the sound of a group that accompanied them.

“We mourn his passing, but we must remember him with joy, because music is what he loved most,” says Grace Florentine, granddaughter of the deceased.

Funeral pallbearers dance while carrying the coffin of Marcelino Jamanca during his funeral in Huacho, May 2, 2024 in Peru © AFP – Ernesto BENAVIDES

The funeral service lasted about an hour and a half, with several breaks. The “Huacho funeral pallbearers” perform up to 20 services per month, billed around a hundred dollars, according to its director.

The pallbearers are of diverse origins: students , workers or drivers who practice this extra-professional activity in their free time.

Family and loved ones throw beer at the coffin of Marcelino Jamanca during his funeral on May 2, 2024 in Huacho, Peru © AFP – Ernesto BENAVIDES

“It's difficult work, because some (deceased) are heavy, but we have to give everything”, explains Alexis Marengo, a 35-year-old porter.

The coffin of Marcelino Jamanca entered its final resting place with splashes of beer because the last farewell “is done with joy”, said another pallbearer, Jack Minaya, 25, during one of the short breaks from this singular rite.

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