Dance of the lances of El Cerro de Andévalo

The dance of the lances, also known as dance of San Benito Abad is one of the so-called ritual dances onubenses, developed in the town of El Cerro de Andévalo, in the province of Huelva, Spain.

It is a ritual dance in honor of San Benito Abad, patron of El Cerro de Andévalo, performed in different events within the context of the Pilgrimage of San Benito and, more specifically, in the preludes of the pilgrimage (in the General Notice or Albricias tomorrow, Thursday of Lucimiento or Day of Faults), during the pilgrimage proper (Saturday, Sunday and Monday) and in the epilogue of this (Wednesday and Thursday of the Sweet), during the first weekend of the month of May.

The dancers, known as "lanzaores", form a group of seven men with iron spears, emphasizing the "head" and "rabeón" differentiated by their clothing. In the dance can be distinguished three variants: in the Mass, in the Procession and in the Poleo, interpreted next to the "jagumeras", forming mixed pairs.

The symbols of the dance are St. Benedict Abbot, spears, clothing and the "step under the stilts", figure or move considered reverential act towards San Benito Abad.

The area in which the activity takes place runs through the church of Nuestra Señora de Gracia and Plaza de España during the morning of Albricias; the hermitage of San Benito Abad and its surroundings, on Saturday, Sunday and Monday of pilgrimage; square of Spain and the Christ on Wednesday and Thursday of the Sweet.

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