blog #11

The cueca is the national Chilean dance that is performed by anyone and is performed with a kerchief. This dance is often performed by the rural societies in the streets. Even though Pinochet and his regime named this originally the national dance, it later turned into an act of opposition against his regime. The tapping portion was done so that they could dance on his grave, which is ironic because he was cremated. This dance later evolved into a way to remember relatives who were taken during the regime and we almost a symbol of rebellion and freedom. When I watched the video there was lots of small movements and much use of the kerchief. These small movements added to one another and built up to Mae up the dance as a whole. As the video progressed, the partners seemed to stand fairly far away from one another and they all hugged at the end. From the article and the video I learned that all these movements formed together to make meaningful dance. The dancers can put so much emotion and heart behind their performance and really move an audience. I think the dance was very elegant and enjoyed watching it. I hope there is an opportunity to seen it performed while in Chile. I also hope to maybe learn a part of it so that I can feel more a part of the culture in Chile. I think being able to see this performed would be very powerful and provide so much insight into their lives and feelings in society.