COSTUMES

LOS TIZNAOS

Los Tiznaos de Miches began as a regional troupe in the town of Miches, on the northern coast of the Eastern Region of the Dominican Republic. These youngsters would soot their bodies with wet vegetable charcoal, don short pants and go around barefoot following their leader who, with sword in one hand and tin can in the other, went from house to house begging for 'habichuelas con dulce,' a popular desert meal made of sweetened red beans and milk:

"Boys, what do you want?"

"food"

"Sweetened red beans"

"food"

This troupe re-appeared in the 1960s in the neighborhood of Guachupita in the City of Santo Domingo under the names "The Africans" or "The Guajíbaros," and later spread throughout the entire country, now using burnt motor-oil as body paint.

LOS TIZNAOS

Se iniciaron como comparsa regional en el pueblo de Miches, en la costa norte de la Región Este de la República Dominicana. "Los Tiznaos de Miches," grupo de jóvenes que revestido su cuerpo con cisco de carbón mojado, pantalón corto y descalzos, seguían a su jefe que con una espada en la mano y una lata iban de casa en casa pidiendo habichuelas con dulce:

"¿Muchachos que quieren?"

"la mange"

"habichuelas con dulce"

"la mange"

Luego esta comparsa resurgió en la década de 1960 en el barrio de Guachupita con el nombre de los "Guajíbaros" o "Africanos", extendiéndose luego por todo el país y utilizando aceite de motor de vehículos quemados.



Text by: Leonardo Iván Domínguez, Representative of Instituto Dominicano del Folklore (INDEFOLK) in New York and Member of Comisión Nacional de Carnaval 1982-1995.