Peruvian dances
Encyclopedia
Apart from dances of native origin, there are also dances that are related to the agricultural work
, hunting
and war
. Peru takes dance very seriously. Some choreographies
show certain Christian influence. Two of the most representative Peruvian Andean dances are the Kashua and the Wayno
or Huayno
. The Kashua has a communal character and it is usually danced in groups in the country or open spaces. The Huayno
is a "salon ball". It is danced in couples and in closed spaces. The yaravi and the triste have also an Andean origin. They are usually songs with very emotional lyrics.
Dances of ritual character are the achocallo, the pinkillada, the llamerada
(dance that imitates the llama
's walk), the kullawada
(the spinners' dance), etc. Between the Hunting dances, it can be mentioned: the llipi-puli and choq'elas. They are dances from the altiplano
related to the vicuña
's hunting.
There are some dance Chiringuano that has an Aymara origin; the Chatripuli that satirizes the Spanish Realist soldiers, and the Kenakenas that is about the Chilean soldiers who occupied Peru during the War of the Pacific
(1879). There are also Carnival
Dances. A Carnival
is a western holiday in the Peruvian Andes
, is celebrated simultaneously with the crops time
. Many rural communities
celebrate the youths' initiation during these holidays with ancestral rites and crossbred dances. New couples might be established.
The most internationally known dance in Peru is the Marinera Norteña. This dance represents a man's courting to a young woman. There are local variants of this dance in Lima
and the other regions of the country.
" because it was born in this place and it was formed until becoming institutionalized. There's no holiday or celebration that can end if it is not danced.
The music
has probably an Indian origin, but the choreography
has a French origin stemmed from "Los lanceros" (The lancer
s) - dance
inserted in Chachapoyas
by the bishop
of the diocese
at that time, monsignor
Emilio Lissón
, from French origin. People said that he had so much influence that the city become Frenchified at that time.
, there is a small town called Huanca, where the homonym dance had its origin. It is also danced in several places of the department of Amazonas during the agricultural
chores, the construction
house
holiday.It is a species of Thanksgiving
pagan
rite.
is a little town that is approximately 10 km far from Chachapoyas
, whose "dancers" form a showy group of thirteen cholo
s, very well trained, that are guided by a "pifador" (a person who whistle) that plays the antara
and a small drum
called tinya
simultaneously.
They wear a white
shirt
of wide and long sleeve
s, a black
vest
adorned with red
ribbon
s and black
trousers
. They also wear a crown of showy peacock
's feathers. Their presence is important in all the big celebrations of the region.
Other well-known dance
s that are performed in diverse localities are:
" that is played in Amazonas
presents note
s of real euphoria. It is similar to the huayno
. At its times, couples dance forming the pandilla (a kind of dance) around the humishas - trees adorned with quitasueños, small mirrors, ornamental chain stitches and pennants. These trees are fulfilled with gifts, including live animal
s, which the guests take when these trees are knocked down at the end of the celebration.
The couple that makes the humisha fall down in a Mardi gras
celebration has the commitment to make a new humisha the following year and going
.
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
and war
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
. Peru takes dance very seriously. Some choreographies
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
show certain Christian influence. Two of the most representative Peruvian Andean dances are the Kashua and the Wayno
Huayno
Huayno is a genre of popular Andean Music and dance from Andean countries. It is especially common in Peru. It originated in Serrania, Peru as a combination of traditional rural folk music and popular urban dance music...
or Huayno
Huayno
Huayno is a genre of popular Andean Music and dance from Andean countries. It is especially common in Peru. It originated in Serrania, Peru as a combination of traditional rural folk music and popular urban dance music...
. The Kashua has a communal character and it is usually danced in groups in the country or open spaces. The Huayno
Huayno
Huayno is a genre of popular Andean Music and dance from Andean countries. It is especially common in Peru. It originated in Serrania, Peru as a combination of traditional rural folk music and popular urban dance music...
is a "salon ball". It is danced in couples and in closed spaces. The yaravi and the triste have also an Andean origin. They are usually songs with very emotional lyrics.
Dances of ritual character are the achocallo, the pinkillada, the llamerada
Llamerada
The Llamerada is an Andean dance. It is a representation of the task of llama herding and holds a historic religious value as a ritual of good fortune.-External links:**...
(dance that imitates the llama
Llama
The llama is a South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since pre-Hispanic times....
's walk), the kullawada
Kullawada
The Kullawada is an Aymara folklore dance that is part of the Bolivia Andean culture. Originating in the region around the Lake Titicaca, it is traditional to be danced among alpaca and sheep wool weavers. The dancers wear colorful, elaborately decorated costumes for the dance, which is meant to...
(the spinners' dance), etc. Between the Hunting dances, it can be mentioned: the llipi-puli and choq'elas. They are dances from the altiplano
Altiplano
The Altiplano , in west-central South America, where the Andes are at their widest, is the most extensive area of high plateau on Earth outside of Tibet...
related to the vicuña
Vicuña
The vicuña or vicugna is one of two wild South American camelids, along with the guanaco, which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes. It is a relative of the llama, and is now believed to share a wild ancestor with domesticated alpacas, which are raised for their fibre...
's hunting.
There are some dance Chiringuano that has an Aymara origin; the Chatripuli that satirizes the Spanish Realist soldiers, and the Kenakenas that is about the Chilean soldiers who occupied Peru during the War of the Pacific
War of the Pacific
The War of the Pacific took place in western South America from 1879 through 1883. Chile fought against Bolivia and Peru. Despite cooperation among the three nations in the war against Spain, disputes soon arose over the mineral-rich Peruvian provinces of Tarapaca, Tacna, and Arica, and the...
(1879). There are also Carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
Dances. A Carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
is a western holiday in the Peruvian Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
, is celebrated simultaneously with the crops time
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
. Many rural communities
Types of rural communities
Sociologists have identified a number of different types of rural communities, which have arisen as a result of changing economic trends within rural regions of industrial nations....
celebrate the youths' initiation during these holidays with ancestral rites and crossbred dances. New couples might be established.
The most internationally known dance in Peru is the Marinera Norteña. This dance represents a man's courting to a young woman. There are local variants of this dance in Lima
Lima Region
Lima Region, also known as Lima Provincias, is one of twenty-five regions of Peru. Located in the central coast of the country, its regional seat is Huacho....
and the other regions of the country.
La Chumaichada
La Chumaichada is "the dance of ChachapoyasChachapoyas Province
Chachapoyas is a province of the Amazonas Region, Peru. The province of Chachapoyas was a part of the department of Trujillo being its capital the city of Chachapoyas....
" because it was born in this place and it was formed until becoming institutionalized. There's no holiday or celebration that can end if it is not danced.
The music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
has probably an Indian origin, but the choreography
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
has a French origin stemmed from "Los lanceros" (The lancer
Lancer
A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used in mounted warfare by the Assyrians as early as and subsequently by Greek, Persian, Gallic, Han-Chinese, nomadic and Roman horsemen...
s) - dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
inserted in Chachapoyas
Chachapoyas Province
Chachapoyas is a province of the Amazonas Region, Peru. The province of Chachapoyas was a part of the department of Trujillo being its capital the city of Chachapoyas....
by the bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of the diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
at that time, monsignor
Monsignor
Monsignor, pl. monsignori, is the form of address for those members of the clergy of the Catholic Church holding certain ecclesiastical honorific titles. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian monsignore, from the French mon seigneur, meaning "my lord"...
Emilio Lissón
Emilio Lissón
Emilio Lissón was an Archbishop of Lima, Peru.- Early years :Lissón was born in the city of Arequipa to a catholic family. He entered into the Congregation of Saint Vincent de Paul and was ordained as a priest in Paris in 1909.- Bishopric :...
, from French origin. People said that he had so much influence that the city become Frenchified at that time.
Huanca
Next to ChachapoyasChachapoyas, Peru
In this part of Peru, located in the eyebrow of the jungle, the climate is subtropical highland, described by the Köppen climate classification as Cwb, with an average temperature of 18 °C and an average relative humidity of 74 percent. However, in some areas the temperature can drop to 2 °C....
, there is a small town called Huanca, where the homonym dance had its origin. It is also danced in several places of the department of Amazonas during the agricultural
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
chores, the construction
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
house
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
holiday.It is a species of Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
pagan
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
rite.
Los Danzantes de Levanto
LevantoLevanto District
Levanto is a district of the province of Chachapoyas.-History:It was one of the principal centers in the province of Chachapoyas. In 1538 Alonso de Alvarado founded the city of Chachapoyas, Peru...
is a little town that is approximately 10 km far from Chachapoyas
Chachapoyas, Peru
In this part of Peru, located in the eyebrow of the jungle, the climate is subtropical highland, described by the Köppen climate classification as Cwb, with an average temperature of 18 °C and an average relative humidity of 74 percent. However, in some areas the temperature can drop to 2 °C....
, whose "dancers" form a showy group of thirteen cholo
Cholo
Cholo is an ethnic slur created by Hispanic criollos in the 16th century, and it has been applied to individuals of mixed or pure American Indian ancestry, or other racially mixed origin. The precise usage of "cholo" has varied widely in different times and places...
s, very well trained, that are guided by a "pifador" (a person who whistle) that plays the antara
Antara (musical instrument)
The antara is an Andean musical instrument composed of a series of pipes arranged in vertical, gradual form . They are traditionally made from a type of cane known as chuki or chajlla that grows in the ceja de la selva, literally "the eyebrow of the forest"...
and a small drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
called tinya
Tinya
The Tinya is a percussion instrument, a small hand-made drum of leather which is used in the traditional music of the Andean region, particularly Peru. The drum dates to the pre-Columbian era, and is used in traditional Peruvian dances, notably the Los Danzantes de Levanto where it is played by one...
simultaneously.
They wear a white
White
White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...
shirt
Shirt
A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body. Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for almost any garment other than outerwear such as sweaters, coats, jackets, or undergarments such as bras, vests or base layers...
of wide and long sleeve
Sleeve
Sleeve is that part of a garment which covers the arm, or through which the arm passes or slips. The pattern of the sleeve is one of the characteristics of fashion in dress, varying in every country and period...
s, a black
Black
Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
vest
Vest
A vest is a garment covering the upper body. The term has different meanings around the world:Waistcoat :. This is called a waistcoat in the UK and many Commonwealth countries, or a vest in the US and Canada. It is often worn as part of formal attire, or as the third piece of a lounge...
adorned with red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
ribbon
Ribbon
A ribbon or riband is a thin band of material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily for binding and tying. Cloth ribbons, most commonly silk, are often used in connection with clothing, but are also applied for innumerable useful, ornamental and symbolic purposes...
s and black
Black
Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
trousers
Trousers
Trousers are an item of clothing worn on the lower part of the body from the waist to the ankles, covering both legs separately...
. They also wear a crown of showy peacock
Peafowl
Peafowl are two Asiatic species of flying birds in the genus Pavo of the pheasant family, Phasianidae, best known for the male's extravagant eye-spotted tail, which it displays as part of courtship. The male is called a peacock, the female a peahen, and the offspring peachicks. The adult female...
's feathers. Their presence is important in all the big celebrations of the region.
Other well-known dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
s that are performed in diverse localities are:
- The "Conchiperla", in which the man gives a handkerchiefHandkerchiefA handkerchief , also called a handkercher or hanky, is a form of a kerchief, typically a hemmed square of thin fabric that can be carried in the pocket or purse, and which is intended for personal hygiene purposes such as wiping one's hands or face, or blowing one's nose...
to his partner keeping a kneeKneeThe knee joint joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two articulations: one between the fibula and tibia, and one between the femur and patella. It is the largest joint in the human body and is very complicated. The knee is a mobile trocho-ginglymus , which permits flexion and extension as...
in the ground and if he doesn't do it, a glass of liqueurLiqueurA liqueur is an alcoholic beverage that has been flavored with fruit, herbs, nuts, spices, flowers, or cream and bottled with added sugar. Liqueurs are typically quite sweet; they are usually not aged for long but may have resting periods during their production to allow flavors to marry.The...
must be drunk in punishment.
- The "Trapichillo", danced by four couples grabbed by the right hands and turning around from right to left side
- The "Quinsamana",in whichinsultInsultAn insult is an expression, statement which is considered degrading and offensive. Insults may be intentional or accidental...
compliments are mixed.
Carnaval en Amazonas
The "carnival musicMusic
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
" that is played in Amazonas
Amazonas Region
Amazonas is a department of northern Peru bordered by Ecuador on the north and west, Cajamarca Department on the west, La Libertad Department on the south, and Loreto Department and San Martín Department on the east. Its capital is the city of Chachapoyas....
presents note
Note
In music, the term note has two primary meanings:#A sign used in musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a sound;#A pitched sound itself....
s of real euphoria. It is similar to the huayno
Huayno
Huayno is a genre of popular Andean Music and dance from Andean countries. It is especially common in Peru. It originated in Serrania, Peru as a combination of traditional rural folk music and popular urban dance music...
. At its times, couples dance forming the pandilla (a kind of dance) around the humishas - trees adorned with quitasueños, small mirrors, ornamental chain stitches and pennants. These trees are fulfilled with gifts, including live animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
s, which the guests take when these trees are knocked down at the end of the celebration.
The couple that makes the humisha fall down in a Mardi gras
Mardi Gras
The terms "Mardi Gras" , "Mardi Gras season", and "Carnival season", in English, refer to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday...
celebration has the commitment to make a new humisha the following year and going
.