During religious festivals in the regions of Teotihuacán and Texcoco, northeast of Mexico City, people "dance for the saint," often to fulfill a promise made in a plea for healing or in gratitude for a favor received. Based on fieldwork conducted between 2011 and 2019, and on online interviews and monitoring of Facebook posts in 2020 and early 2021, in this article we explore the impact of the coronavirus on devotional dances performed in the context of religious festivals. In particular, we examine cases of new practices adopted during confinement. Drawing on Jeremy Stolow's (2005) concept of "religions as media" we show how a combination of digital and face-to-face media made it possible for local Catholic communities to maintain the relationship characterized by the do ut des principle with their patron saint during the pandemic, "albeit in a different way." We conclude by raising several questions regarding the future of devotional dances and religious festivals in these regions as we enter the second year of restrictions to mitigate the effects of covid-19.