Ancient Mayan ball game to be played in the Historic Center of Havana

With a live demonstration of the legendary Mayan Ball Game, the Embassy of the Republic of Guatemala in Cuba will greet the 500th anniversary of the founding of Havana on September 26 in the Carolinas Garden of the Historic Center in Havana.

Hector Ivan Espinoza Farfan, Guatemalan ambassador in Cuba, told the press today that the event, held in coordination with the Cuban Ministry of Culture and the Office of the City's Historian, will take place at 5pm at the headquarters of Danza Teatro Retazos (Amargura, No.61 between San Ignacio and Mercaderes).

The diplomat stressed that the Mayan ball game is more than just a sport, since it dates back to around a thousand years BC and has a great ritual and traditional component that is part of the identity not only of his country, but also of other nations of the continent, and that is an effort of the Guatemalan state to preserve and foster this ancient Mayan game, declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Nation.

This complicated game, in which competitors must pass a rubber ball through a stone hoop using different parts of their bodies at hands and feet, symbolizes the struggle between the opposing forces of the universe, between good and evil, light and darkness, and the ball in constant movement represents the stars' movement and the creational forces.