I am just finishing up a week trip through Chiapas in Mexico. We attended two very important festivals, one was the "Pocho" dances in Tenosique and the other was "Fat Tuesday" in Chamula. If I don't have a full travelog posted now, I will soon. However, this post is more about my own thoughts and ramblings and is separate from the travelog.
The festivals that I attended where somewhat choreographed in that there was some sort of dance to be done that the townspeople knew and participated in. There were some sort of group of directors that would wave a flag, beat a drum, and somehow direct the action and the dances. And the festivals generally had a lot of references to animals, fertility, and the passage of death. They were profound to attend. I haven't had such vivid dreams in so long as I did after attending the festivals - and that's only as an outsider. I can't imagine what it would be like to actually participate.
So anyway, it got me thinking, where are the modern American rituals? And by ritual, I don't mean people's daily personal rituals like "I come home, open a bag of corn chips, and watch Roseanne reruns." Where are these group festivals? The best I could come up with was Puerto Rican Day or Gay Pride Day. I've seen these, though, and they don't even come close to stacking up. These seem to be more about getting drank, waving a flag, and shouting a lot. There's no group dance. There's no director.
I also thought about sports. I couldn't make the connection though. There's no real imagery, there's no real story being acted out, and there's really nothing for the audience to do.
I suppose the ritual is part of what always attracted me to Jewish/Israeli events like a wedding or a bar mitzvah. There is a dance and there is some form and story to it. Granted, there's nothing primal, so it's a little tame.
I suppose most religion was supposed to take the place of the rituals, but modern religion is so antiseptic by the standards of the festivals that I attended. It's a shame.