Animal explains:

The dancing custom has pre-Hispanic roots and is steeped in Aztec imagery, but as the role of Christianity expanded, the garb eventually adapted to include Catholic elements and icons. These elaborate costumes you see in these photos came later in the mid 19th century as a way to mock he the Spaniards and later European occupiers while staying anonymous: "The elaborate dress, gloved hands, uptilted beard and arrogant stance makes a mockery of the salon dancing so beloved of the upper classes during the period of the French intervention (1864 - 1867) under the hapless Hapsburg Emperor Maximilian and his Empress Carlotta."