Blog #10: Chilean Dance

      A famously known dance in Chile is know as the cueca, this traditional Chilean dance is danced with a man and a woman in which they hold handkerchiefs while they dance. The cueca symbolizes something deeper then just a dance, it became a form of protest during the Pinochet regime. They had a cueca solo done where women danced alone to represent their loved ones being alone or a part from  those who are dead or missing. The cueca stands has a very powerful and symbolic meaning for the Chilean people and their culture.  

      While I first watched the dance I saw pairs of people dancing to music, doing a series of steps while holding and waving around a white handkerchief. My interpretation of this was that it was a famous cultural dance amongest the Chileans. It looked like an upbeat fun dance done at celebrtaions or with some type of crowd, since there were peole gathered aorund and it seemed very upbeat and happy. In doing the reading about the dance ti was once a celebratory dance but I was suprised to find out that later became a dance for protest. The cueca is very significant in theor culture and has a lot of meaning to it and is a very traditional and well known dance among the Chileans.