A Month Long Celebration (Part Two)

Today, we continue in our series about how Chileans celebrate their independence during the whole month of September. Here's another excerpt from Hamilton's article.

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The Cueca: The heart of Dieciocho

There is a wealth of Chilean music, but the cueca (pronounced QUAKE-ah) represents in many ways the essence of the Chilean character. It was proclaimed the national dance of Chile only three decades ago in 1979, but has been sung and danced in all regions of Chile for several centuries. People in other South American countries, especially Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina, also dance cuecas, but the Chilean cueca has a special verve and personality all its own. After gaining its independence, Chile experienced an outburst of celebration of its own national personality for many years. The energetic cueca aptly represented the new, fresh persona of Chile. However, with the invention of the radio, and perhaps because of Chile’s desire to break away from its geographical isolation (the long, narrow country is hemmed in on the west and south by ocean and the Andes Mountains on the east), after several decades of celebrating its independence, the cueca and other Chilean folk music faded into the background and international music became more popular.

In the 1950s and 60s, when nations in many parts of the world were again reaffirming their unique personalities, in Chile there was a rebirth of folk music in general and the cueca in particular. Singers put their own folk music-based compositions, including cuecas, in the forefront. And, as an extra impetus to increased appreciation of Chile’s own musical heritage, in 1971 President Salvador Allende’s Popular Unity government introduced cueca competitions, which continue to this day. Even international cueca competitions take place now outside of Chile because Chileans in other countries also want to keep their native culture alive.

Since the cueca is first and foremost a song, it begins with a poem that can be about love, or about some geographical area of Chile, or about some event in life, and is then sung in a unique way. By way of example, let’s imagine that the old American song, “You Are My Sunshine” is a cueca. The “poem” would be the words of the song, as they were written:

You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine,
You make me happy,
When skies are gray…

In the United States, the song would be sung just as the “poem” is written. But, if this were a cueca, it would then be sung quite differently, with the repetition of various words:

You are, you are my sunshine
My dear, my only, my only sunshine
My dear, my only, my only sunshine
My dear, you make, you make me happy
My dear, when skies, when skies are gray…

In a genuine cueca, the entire poem is sung this way, with repetitions and additions of words. There are three separate parts to the cueca (cuarteta (a four-line stanza), seguidilla (which literally means a happy and lively Spanish dance), and remate (closing verse). The song is accompanied by guitars, harps, sometimes drums, and other musical instruments.

The cueca is traditionally danced by a male and a female. There are specific steps (sliding and stamping) and movements in circles and semicircles. These movements change according to the three parts of the sung cueca, so the dancers’ steps have to coincide with each section of the song. The dancing is very mathematic and geometric but also very engaging and personal. Each dancer has to end each part of the dance in the spot where he/she began. The man and woman can join arms and talk in the preliminary promenade before the singing begins, as well as when the singers have finished. However, during the dance, they can’t speak, touch each other, or take their eyes off each other, except when they make turns.

Both dancers carry handkerchiefs, which act as silent but expressively integral members of the dance. The handkerchief conveys festivity and, since the cueca is basically a dance of courtship, it acts as the “language” of the people who are dancing. The woman keeps her handkerchief near her face or at shoulder level. The man can wave his handkerchief over his head, at waist level, or around the woman’s feet. Occasionally the dancers hold their handkerchiefs with both hands. If the cueca is done correctly, what looks to the uneducated eye like a dance floor full of people just whirling around happily waving handkerchiefs is a very precise performance with a joyous spirit.

During Independence Day celebrations, those who really know how to dance the cueca will appear in presentations dressed in traditional dance clothes. Men wear riding pants, chaps, spurs on their boots, a short jacket, a short poncho called a manta, and a flat-brimmed felt or straw hat. Women wear either a long black skirt, white blouse, and short jacket, with the same type of a hat as the man’s; or a flowered dress with an apron, and no hat.The bottom line is that the cueca is an expression of joy, and national independence is something to celebrate happily.

Do all Chileans learn the cueca at some point in their lives? Sort of. The Chilean Ministry of Education requires that students learn the cueca in elementary and high schools throughout the country. But what happens after the young folks go out the door when the cueca lesson ends? Most of the time, the dance gets swallowed up in the rush of life. Some young people, however, make it a priority and keep the tradition of the cueca alive all through the year, especially in September.

In Chile, the cueca can be danced in different ways: humbly, timidly, elegantly and mischievously. But, to keep the cueca both elegant and mischievous means lots of practice. The cueca outfits, especially for the man, require some getting used to--chaps over long pants and spurs on boots in a crowded room are not only heavy but hot, and maybe a little clumsy.

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Here is a short video of the Chilean cueca.






Come back tomorrow for part three.