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Traditions - Dominican Carnival / Carnaval Dominicano - Carnival Characters
Los Alí Babá These costumes and dance represent Eastern presence with an Arabian flair. (pictured above)
General Cocotico wears a palm leaf stem to represent armor
Muerte con su Perplegía/ Death in all its Perplexity
Culebra y las Siete Pecados/ The Snake and the Seven Sins
Macarao/ Big Mask (from Bonao) is a big masked devil
Trapuses/ Rag (from Bonao) wear long colorful rag strips that are woven together and have a mask of the same material or just paint their faces.
Mudmen are a group of underwear wearing men that are encrusted with gold colored mud.(
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Macarao (from Bonao) wear devil masks that have large mean teeth representing different kinds of animals. Their clothing is made of crepe paper streamers.
There are many with many different names as well as the ways in which the Carnival participants present themselves. The costumes are all different and represent the communities and regions from which they come. These elaborate masks, mainly the Diablos, are made in secret in little out of the way, hidden places where one would never imagine that there was a work of art being created there. These costumes are highly guarded as they want all to be a surprise and so not want their secret out until Carnaval time has arrived. Also, there is much money and notoriety to be won by having the best costumes.
I have some of the names of the masks and troupes I have located. There is so much variety and character descriptions I hope I got the information correct. Different people I ask and different sources I have read all have a little different information. At least you will get the general idea of how diverse, original and creative all these costumes and their creators really are.
Platanus (from Cibao) are covered in plantain leaves, wear painted gourd masks and carry the whip.
Papelus/ Paper (from Cibao) wear costumes made of shredded paper (newspapers, colored crepe paper, shopping bags) or colored plastic bags with gourd masks and carry vejigas/ the inflated bladder weapons or látigos/ whips
El Mediodía/ The Mid Day is a man dressed as a woman with the colors of the flag painted on their face.
The Civiles/ Civilians (from Montecristi) fight the Toros/ Bulls with loud cracking whips known as látigos. El Toro wears a dotted, flat animal mask and a thick padded costume to protect against the wrath of Los Civiles who crack their large whips that they use to fight the bull. These characters have mock battles which are not mock when the whip hits you! The bull will be the victor in the upside down world of Carnival.
Lechones/ Pork Eaters (from Santiago) are traditional Carnival characters. They have elaborate galactic designed satin and taffeta costumes decorated with mirrors, beads and bells. They wear papier maché masks with a duck-like bill, big horns and carry a whip. Some of the masks resemble pigs.
Nicolás Den Den (from Santiago) is a fat, dirty, dancing bear chained to his human master. His comedic antics make the children laugh. The same costumed characters in Montecristi is called el Oso Nicolás.
Roba la Gallina/ Chicken Robber (from San Cristobal) is a man dressed in brightly colored women's clothing, with a huge butt and breasts, carrying an old umbrella and a big purse. This character hits all the Colmados begging for food and drink that he-she shares with the crowd representing its chicks. It is thought to come from the old tradition of tar and feathering a person that stole a chicken and making them walk through the streets. This bazar person yells out silly rhymes while he begs for food.
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Guloyas (San Pedro de Macoris) dress in bright colors with long strips of cloth in red and yellow. The suit is decorated with mirrors. They dance around to the music of la flauta/ the flute, el cencerro/ bells la tambora/ drum
Los Travestis/ The Transvestites are just that, men dressing up as women that is to signify their machismoness (remember much of Carnival is opposites or the upside down world).(
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Taimácaros ( from Puerto Plata ) are diablos wearing a mask that covers the entire body representing a Taino god or an ancient Spaniard, with a colorful shell covered belt at their waist.
Cachúa (from Barahona) has small spikes covering their devil mask many fashioned after the local creatures. The mask is covered with long, flowing, colored paper representing hair with their costumes having the bat looking wings, unique patterns and capes. These creatures jump around in the street and have whip cracking battles. The louder the crack the better.
El Hombre en Zancos/ The Man on Stilts (from San Cristobal )
El Doctor/ The Doctor (from San Cristobal ) wears glasses made of wire and dried orange skins, running throughout the crowd looking for women to cure.
Los Galleros This is a small play acted out in the streets between two farmers holding their roosters. They decide to fight their roosters in the middle of the street. While they are engaging in the fight the police arrive to stop the fight and arrest the men. This is one of the many play acting shows that occur during Carnival.
La Muerte en Yipe/ Death in a Jeep is a skeleton and skull costumed death figure who has wounds dripping with blood. The name comes from the days when the Death characters used to climb up on the backs of the jeeps that towed the floats during the carnival parades. They hold a scythe.
Africanos use charcoal to blacken their flesh and wear loin cloths sometimes made from plantain leaves and do not wear shoes. They also carry a spear. Some wear afro wigs, paint their faces the color of the flag or wear gourd masks, all depending on what the character wants to do.
Some of the most famous of all these masked demons are the Diablo Cojuelos/ Devil who walks with a limp. This devil, as the story is told, was a demon banished to Earth because of his clownish pranks. When he fell he hurt his leg. are multi-horned, sharp toothed beings. They have elaborate masks.
Many of the regions have varying versions of this horrific devil. Some wear the mask atop their heads making it almost seem as if they have two faces. They all wear costumes that are brightly decorated with variations on the embellishments and mask styles. Some costumes are covered with bells, dolls or stuffed animals. These costumes are layered with ruffles or all types of fancy vibrant decorations. Some have ruffles that cover the entire back of their heads. Their walk, supposedly limping, really looks to me like frenzied dancing and jumping. How they get all that energy wearing those hot costumes is beyond me.
Pepines (from Santiago) wear masks with horns with short points covering them
Los monos de Simonico/ The Monkeys (from Villa Duarte)
Los Tiznaos/ The Stained One paint themselves with old motor oil that makes them a nasty shiny black. They run through the crowds accepting money so that they will not hug you.
Califé is a social and cultural poet. He makes verses that make jest and comically criticizes the government and political figures. He wears black and white with a big black hat.
Some of the Carnival Characters and Masked Beings and their descriptions.
IMPORTANT STUFF/EVERYTHING ELSE
El Jinchaíto is the main person of carnaval in Moca They also have their other characters including Los Chacales, Los Búhos/The Owls, Los Cibernéticos, Los Indeseables/The Undesirable Ones, Los Coyotes/The Cyotes, los Diablos Azules/The Blue Devils, Los Dragones/The Dragons are among the most popular in this region.
Real Life and Times in the Dominican Republic
Máscaras del diablo (from Elías Piña) - These devil masks are adorned with red ribbon. These mask wearers traditionally do not speak. It is said if you find the identity of the person wearing the mask you will drop dead on the spot.
Las Marimantas (from Yerba Buena) - They cover their bodies in tree branches. Their heads are covered with a shell and the masks are made of cow leather.
Los Pirulíes (from Cabral Baraona) - These are children dressed as Indians with a skirt made of coconut leaves.
