Voladores

The voladores, or flyers, dress in brilliantly colored traditional costumes, climb up a 150 foot pole, tie their ankles to ropes wound around the pole and then jump off, “flying” gracefully around and around as the ropes unwind until they reach the ground. As the voladores “fly,” another performer balances at the top of the pole and plays haunting tunes on his wooden flute. The performers in this series of pictures were located next to the Anthropological museum in Mexico City.