In this excerpt, Chavarría discusses his memory of the last time the renowned Celedonio Molinar performed as devil and how his mentor retired in 2003 after being honored at that year’s Festival de los Diablos.
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Carlos Chavarria Memories of Celedonio Molinar
In this excerpt, Chavarría shares cherished memories of his mentor, Celedonio Molinar, including seeing him “fly” from roof to roof as Major Devil. Chavarría also discusses important lessons and ritual practices that he learned from his mentor about performing the Major Devil role.
Carlos Chavarria Playing Devil from Emotion
In this excerpt, Chavarría talks about the importance, for him, of playing the Devil character from “emotion” and his decision to break away from a particular ritual that marked his mentor’s embodiment of Major Devil.
Carlos Chavarria Becoming Major Devil
In this excerpt, Chavarría discusses the process by which he became Major Devil in the Congo tradition of Portobelo, Panama.
Carlos Chavarria Style of Devil
In this excerpt, Chavarría discusses his particular style of “Devil” embodiment within the Congo tradition and the way others perceive of his performance. He also talks about the respect devils from outside of the community give to the devil of the town they are visiting. Each visiting devil must submit to the rules of the game as practiced by the local community.
Carlos Chavarria Choosing to Play the Devil
In this excerpt, Chavarría talks about his choice to play the devil role in the Congo tradition and shares his memories of how he came to play the role for the first time as a school-aged boy.
Carlos Chavarria Devil’s Mask
In this excerpt, Chavarría discusses the ways in which the Devil’s mask initially captured his attention and the double perspective/participant-observer position that it provides.
Carlos Chavarria Changes to the Major Devil
In this excerpt, Chavarría discusses the ways in which the Major Devil character has changed over his lifetime. He focuses particularly on his choice to follow his mentor’s example by wearing a smaller mask and discusses the value of smaller masks in relationship to the value of larger ones, which many younger devils choose to wear.
Ileana Solis Palma Studying Dance of the Devil
In this excerpt, Solís discusses studying the dance of the devil in 1994 under the tutelage of Celedonio Molinar, legionary Major Devil of Portobelo, Panama and receiving permission from the Congo King and Queen to dress and dance as a devil in 1995.
Raul Orlando Jimenez Delgado Significance of Devil
In this excerpt, Jiménez discusses the significance of the devil character to the Congo tradition of Panama and his perspective on playing the Major Devil character.