Cueca
The Cueca is a couple dance in which the two dance partners move towards each other and in a semicircle around each other. The Cueca thus acts like a courtship dance. The dancer and the dancer each carry a handkerchief in their right hand, with which they underline their movements and the courtship character of the dance.
Cueca in Chile
The cueca was officially declared the national dance of Chile and is danced again every year at the national holiday celebrations on September 18 .
In Chile there are several regionally different variations of the Cueca. This corresponds to the respective characteristics of the regional musical and dance folklore and is also reflected in the clothes that are typical for the region, which are worn by the dancers at the Cueca.
Since the time of the Pinochet regime, the cueca has been a form of expression of protest: women who mourned their "disappeared" relatives used to dance the cueca in silence, without a word and alone - with photos of the missing relatives pinned to their chests. The pop singer Sting memorialized these women with his song They Dance Alone .
Cueca in Bolivia
The Cueca is also known as a national dance by Bolivia and is accordingly widespread. Depending on the federal state, Cueca Paceña , Cueca Chuquisaqueña , Cueca Potosina , Cueca Cochabambina , Cueca Chapaca (= Tarijeña ) are distinguished. The three-way rhythm (6/8 time) is the same in all of these dance variants, but the tempo and style vary greatly depending on the state. The Cuecas from La Paz, Chuquisaca and Potosí are the most elegant and slowest while the Cueca Chapaca are danced very quickly. The Cueca Chapaca, like the Chacarera, is part of the gaucho folklore of the Gran Chaco, which stretches across Bolivia, Argentina , Paraguay and Brazil . Despite the stylistic differences, there is a basic structure of changes and positions with which all Cueca styles can be danced. Flirting with a handkerchief is also the same. In the Bolivian plateau, the Cueca "Viva mi patria Bolivia" is traded as an unofficial national anthem.
Related dances
The Peruvian Marinera is closely related to the Cueca, which was called La Chilena in Peru until the Saltpeter War in 1879 , and was then renamed Marinera due to the war against Chile.
