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Jose Silva, right, and his apprentice Marvin Silva wearing the mandador costumes and holding the bull mask of the Nicaraguan Toro Huaco pageant.
Image Number
Photographer
Date
Collection
Series 1640, Folk Arts Apprenticeship Slides: 1994-1995 ; Box 18
Geographic Term
Subject Term
Ethnicity, Nicaragua
Clothing, Latin American and Caribbean
Community culture--Florida--Broward County--Pembroke Pines
Ethnic costume
Dance costume
Costume
Headgear
Clothing and dress
Manners and customs
Masks
Ethnic arts
Hispanic American arts
Male dancers
Hispanic Americans
Hispanic American men--Florida--Broward County--Pembroke Pines
Material culture--Florida--Broward County--Pembroke Pines
Apprentices
Mentoring in the arts
Entertainers--Florida--Broward County--Pembroke Pines
Personal Subjects
Physical Description
General Note
Silva moved to Miami in 1979 from Diriamba, Nicaragua, where he learned toro huaco. He is responsible for reviving the traditional dance for Miami's Nicaraguan community Festival of San Sebastian, which is held on the Sunday closest to January 21.
Marvin Silva is learning the role of mandador and studying the elements of leadership in the dance, which include a unique stamping and walking step dance, the use of the chischil, a percussion instrument, and dramatic gestures.
In the toro huaco, a dancer with a kite-like mask that portrays a bull charges and retreats from another dancer wearing a mask with white skin, blond hair, blue eyes, and metallic vestments which portrays a mandador, or European commander. The tradition comes from the descendants of Nagual natives and parodies the clash of cultures in Central America 450 years ago.
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Creator
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Physical Description
Series Title
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General Note
Subject - Person
Collection ID
Chicago Manual of Style
Stone, Robert L., 1944-. Jose Silva, right, and his apprentice Marvin Silva wearing the mandador costumes and holding the bull mask of the Nicaraguan Toro Huaco pageant. 1995. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. <https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/108712>, accessed 6 June 2026.
MLA
Stone, Robert L., 1944-. Jose Silva, right, and his apprentice Marvin Silva wearing the mandador costumes and holding the bull mask of the Nicaraguan Toro Huaco pageant. 1995. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.<https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/108712>
AP Style Photo Citation
(State Archives of Florida/Stone)
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