Peruvian dances

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Peruvian dances are primarily of native origin. There are also dances that are related to agricultural work, hunting and war. Peru takes dance very seriously. Some choreographies show certain Christian influence.

Types of dances

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 in open spaces. The Huayno is a "ballroom dance". It is danced in couples and in closed spaces. The yaravi and the triste also have an Andean origin. They are usually danced to 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. Among the hunting dances are: the llipi-puli and choq'elas. They are dances from the altiplano related to the vicuña's hunting.

There are some Chiringuano dances that have 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. It is celebrated simultaneously with harvest 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 of a young woman. There are local variants of this dance in Lima and the other regions of the country.

Amazonas Region

La Chumaichada

La Chumaichada is "the dance of Chachapoyas" because it was born in this area and it was widely practised until becoming institutionalized. No holiday or celebration is complete if it is not danced.

The music has probably an Indian origin, but the choreography has a French origin stemming from "Los Lanceros" (The lancers) - dance inserted in Chachapoyas by the bishop of the diocese at that time, monsignor Emilio Lissón, of French origin. It has been said that he had so much influence that the city became Frenchified during his time.

Huanca

Next to Chachapoyas, there is a small town called Huanca, where the homonym dance had its origin. It is also danced in several regions of the Amazonas department during agricultural activities, the construction of house and during holidays.It is a type of Thanksgiving pagan rite.

Los Danzantes de Levanto

Levanto is a little town that is approximately 10 km away from Chachapoyas, whose "dancers" form a very well trained showy group of thirteen cholos, that are guided by a "pifador" (a person who whistles) that plays the antara and a small drum called the tinya simultaneously.

They wear a white shirt of wide and long sleeves, a black vest adorned with red ribbons 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 dances that are performed in diverse localities are:

• The "Conchiperla", in which the man gives a handkerchief to his partner keeping a knee in the ground and if he doesn't do it, a glass of liqueur 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 which insult compliments are mixed.

Carnaval in Amazonas

The "carnival music" that is played in Amazonas presents notes 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 filled with gifts, including live animals, 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 from the following year onward.

See also

• Culture of Peru