El Dia De Los Muertos Downloads Torrent
Dorthea Tingler
Da de los Muertos includes pre-Hispanic and Spanish customs and is celebrated in Latin America, particularly Mexico and Central America, and among Latino communities in the United States to honor deceased family and friends through altars called ofrendas and by decorating cemeteries and individual tombstones. Offerings include traditional foods, sugar skulls, marigolds, pan de muertos (bread for the dead) and the material goods the deceased enjoyed while alive. The purpose of the ofrendas is to encourage the departed souls to visit with families and friends.
Da de los Muertos is traditionally a two-day celebration: Nov. 1 is devoted to deceased infants and children, and Nov. 2 is dedicated to deceased adults. According to Melissa Carrillo, director of New Media and Technology at the Smithsonian Latino Center, the celebration has become more popular in the United States with the growing number of Latino communities. The second annual LVM Da de los Muertos Festival in Second Life allows visitors to create an online presence that embraces the spirit of this culturally significant practice and shares it with a global audience.
One of the highpoints of the virtual festival will take place Sunday, Oct. 31, when the University of Notre Dame takes on the Smithsonian Latino Center in a meso-ball game tournament of life and death. The game will be played at the Ballcourt of the Sun located in the music island of the LVM. The Day of the Dead Ballgame Tournament, sponsored by the Walt Disney Co., is based on the first organized, ancient Mesoamerican sport played almost 3,500 years ago using a rubber ball. Festival participants are encouraged to learn more about the game by visiting www.ballgame.org.
The Smithsonian Latino Center ensures Latino contributions to arts, sciences and the humanities are highlighted, understood and advanced through the development and support of public programs, scholarly research, museum collections and educational opportunities at the Smithsonian Institution and its affiliated organizations across the United States. For more information, visit www.latino.si.edu.