Pok-ta-pok was a ritual ballgame played for 3,000 years by the pre-Columbian peoples of Ancient Mesoamerica, becoming a symbol of Mesoamerican cosmogony. In fact, the bouncing ball is thought to have represented the sun, while the stone scoring rings may have represented sunrise and sunset, or the equinoxes. The game, which symbolically pitted the lords of the underworld against their earthy adversaries, engaged players in the maintenance of the cosmic order of the universe and the ritual regeneration of life. This youthful act pays tribute to the modern ritual sport of football, highly celebrated in Mexico. A man and a woman try to outdo each other by deftly manipulating a ball with their feet and head. They make the ball bounce, roll and spin using their knees, feet, soles and the back of their neck. When it starts to rain, time seems to stand still as the artists carry on, impervious to the downpour.

In LUZIA, the age-old ritual sport of pok-ta-pok meets the contemporary ritual sport of football as a man and a woman (Abou Traore and Laura Biondo) try to outdo each other by deftly manipulating a soccer ball with their feet and head. Later, as the rain comes pouring down, they are joined by more and more players, and a beat-boxer who adds a... new dimension to the celebratory outing.

After the celebration our journeyman once again returns, this time attempting to fill his empty canteen in the current of the rain’s runoff. But the moment he gets close to the surge, it ceases and dries up. Perplexed, he moves over to where it’s still flowing, but the same occurs. Mystified and bewildered now, he takes up the game and attempts to foil with the rain curtain, with predictable, but hilarious results.