Mexico, Veracruz: Danza de los Voladores-ritual ceremony of the Flyers

Danza de los Voladores-ritual ceremony of the Flyers. It derives from Papantla, but nowadays can be seen in various places of the country. It is an ancient Mesoamerican ceremony/ritual, believed to have originated with the Nahua, Huastec and Otomi peoples in central Mexico, and then spread throughout most of Mesoamerica. The ritual consists of dance and the climbing of a 30 mete...r pole from which four of the five participants then launch themselves tied with ropes to descend to the ground. The fifth remains on top of the pole, dancing and playing a flute and drum. According to one myth, the ritual was created to ask the gods to end a severe drought. It is included in Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. 

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danza_de_los_Voladores_de_Papantla