“VIGILAR Y FESTEJAR” INSTITUTIONALIZATION AND SYSTEMS OF SOCIETIES AND RELIGIOUS DANCE CORPS IN THE FESTIVAL OF THE VIRGIN OF LA TIRANA

The festivity of La Tirana is one of the most important popular demonstrations in northern Chile. Every year, thousands of dancers, musicians, singers and the faithful come on pilgrimage from different parts of the country, as well as from Peru and Bolivia, to the pampas to worship the Virgen del Carmen del Tamarugal. Currently, the celebration is managed by the Catholic Church and the Federation of Religious Dances of La Tirana, which brings together all the associations of religious dances participating in the popular celebration. However, this type of organization is relatively recent and the socio-historical process that has led it to its current state is little known. In this context, the objective of this article is to analyze the organizational development carried out by the religious dance guilds of the festival of La Tirana from 1930 to the present. The hypothesis is that this phenomenon involved a simultaneous procedure of progressive institutionalization and growing disciplining of the confraternities vis-à-vis the Catholic Church, a matter that affected certain characteristic aspects of the performance displayed during the festivity.