Bailando para los santos en el tiempo de Covid-19: respuestas al confinamiento de 2020 en el centro de México

During religious celebrations in the regions of Teotihuacán and Texcoco, northeast of Mexico City, people “dance for a saint,” often to fulfill a promise made after praying for a cure or to give thanks for a favor granted. Based on fieldwork conducted between 2011 and 2019, online interviews, and the tracking of Facebook publications during 2020 and the first months of 2021, this article explores the impact of the coronavirus on devotional dances done during religious celebrations. In particular, it examines the new practices that surfaced during lockdown. Drawing on Jeremy Stolow’s concept of “religion and/as media” (2005), the article demonstrates how during the pandemic, a combination of digital and face-to-face media allowed local Catholic communities to sustain a relationship with their patron saint based on the do ut des principle, “though in a different way.” The conclusions pose several questions about the future of devotional dances and religious celebrations in these regions at the start of the second year of COVID-19 restrictions.