Carnival 2009 - Santo Domingo (Video) !!!!

[Robert]

Fantastic work from our very own Mr. Lu!

[Robert]

Mr. Lu took about 3hrs of footage, so what you see about is just a snippet of what goes on.

We was down on the floor at the Presidente stand and had great access to the 160+ passing groups.

Some of my personal highlights in the above video.

5:38 - Full on whip fight with two different groups.
Maybe later we will post the full clip of this, crazy!!

6:56 - Mr. Lu interviewing his new best friends

8:13 - No introduction needed. Must be the water in here

8:37 - The music was so loud, you could here yourself think, let along take video.

Enjoy!

[Pib]

Originally Posted by Robert

5:38 - Full on whip fight with two different groups.
Maybe later we will post the full clip of this, crazy!!

That must be the Montecristi troup.

The two groups are the the "toros (bulls)" and "civiles (civilians)". The first wear masks and padded costumes, the latters usually fight with regular clothes, or in the traditional way, bare-chested.

Since the bulls have an advantage (padded costume and face protection) they take on many civilians, a bull's courage is measured by how many civilians he can fight. The fights are for real and the whips, made with natural fibers, are wet to make the strike more painful. Seeing blood is not uncommon and some people have been seriously injured during this fights (lost eyes, for example).

There is a a "code of conduct", if somebody drops the whip nobody attacks him, as he is unarmed. And strangely enough, these people remain friends even after they have beat each other.

It's a strange thing. I think these people are fricking crazy, but it's a tad better than bull-fighting, or cock-fighting. They do it on their own volition.

Here's a couple of "toros": PuntaCana 2009 Carnival on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[kukuruza]

Fantastic work !Very much it is pleasant to me!