Anguiano dancers
Tradition of international fame for the spectacular dance on wooden stilts, 45 centimeters high, carried out by eight young people of the town, dressed in colored vests and yellow skirts, which are launched from the church by the cobbled slope to the square of Anguiano .
Every July 22, Fiesta de la Magdalena, after Mass, the dancers begin the dance in front of the image of the Saint, accompanied by the music of bagpipes and drums, dancing “El Agudo” with her castanets “. They must go down the six stone steps that separate the church square from the street. Subsequently, one by one, the dancers will launch on the cobbled slope, turning vertiginously on themselves until they finish on the “mattress” of people waiting for them in the square. They go back up and throw again while the image of Santa Maria Magdalena descends in walking. When everyone has arrived at the square, now with sticks, dance the “troqueaos”. The dance will be repeated in the afternoon, after the rosary.
There are written documents about Anguiano’s dance dated in 1,603, although a much older origin is assumed. It is in any case the oldest folkloric manifestation of La Rioja.
The dancers will repeat this rite again on the last Saturday of September, when the image of the Magdalena returns to her chapel to spend the winter, next to the source of intermittent water.
On these dates, other events such as ball games, tastings, children’s games, children’s costumes, folk dance, theme nights are also carried out … The entire town participates in its organization, especially the Aidillo Cultural Association in collaboration with the City Council and the Senderista Association.