Cueca

Cueca is a family of musical styles and associated dances in which 'the dancers, who carry a handkerchief in their right hand, trace circular figures, with turns and half-turns, interrupted by various flourishes.' It dates back to the late 18th century, and its origin is disputed; there are various theories or schools of thought regarding its provenance and evolution.
It is danced "under more or less different names", from Colombia to Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia, and it has different varieties, both in rhythm and choreography, depending on the regions and the periods; "the only thing that differentiates them is the local color they acquire in different places, as well as the number of measures, which varies from one to another."
The Chilean government officially declared the cueca the "national dance of Chile" through Decree No. 23 of November 6, 1979, issued by the Ministry of the General Secretariat of Government, and designated September 17 as the "National Cueca Day" through Decree No. 54 of October 28, 1989, issued by the same ministry. Likewise, the Bolivian government declared the Bolivian cueca an intangible cultural heritage of the country on November 30, 2015, and established the first Sunday of October as the "Day of the Bolivian Cueca".

Origins

While cueca's origins are not clearly defined, it is considered to have mostly European Spanish and arguably indigenous influences. The most widespread version of its origins relates it with the zamacueca which arose in Peru as a variation of Spanish Fandango dancing with criollo. The dance is then thought to have passed to Chile and Bolivia, where its name was shortened and where it continued to evolve. Due to the dance's popularity in the region, the Peruvian evolution of the zamacueca was nicknamed "la chilena", "the Chilean", due to similarities between the dances. Later, after the Pacific War, the term marinera, in honor of Peru's naval combatants and because of hostile attitude towards Chile, was used in place of "la chilena". In March 1879 the writer and musician Abelardo Gamarra renamed the "chilena" as the "marinera". The Marinera, Zamba and the Cueca styles are distinct from each other and from their root dance, the zamacueca.
Another theory is that Cueca originated in the early nineteenth century bordellos of South America, as a pas de deux facilitating partner finding.
The usual interpretation of this courting dance is zoomorphic: it tries to reenact the courting ritual of a rooster and a hen. The male displays a quite enthusiastic and at times even aggressive attitude while attempting to court the female, who is elusive, defensive and demure. The dance often finishes with the man kneeling on one knee, with the woman placing her foot triumphantly on his raised knee.
In Bolivia, there are many variations throughout the different regions. Cueca styles of La Paz, Potosí and Sucre are the elegant and static versions, whereas in Cochabamba and Tarija the style is much livelier and free. The same could be said with the music where in different regions rhythm and speed slightly differ amongst the regions. While dancing, handkerchiefs are used by both male and female dancers by twirling over the head. It is said the twirling of the handkerchief is a way to lure the woman.

History in Chile

In Chile, the cueca developed and spread in bars and taverns, which were popular centers of entertainment and parties in the nineteenth century. During Fred Warpole's stay in Chile between 1844 and 1848, he described some characteristics of the dance: guitar or harp accompaniment, hand drumming or tambourine for rhythm, high-pitched singing, and a unique strumming pattern where the guitarist strums all the strings, punctuated by a slap on the guitar body.
The Chilean cueca is not just Zamacueca; it is a blend of different dances of the time, with Zamacueca being just one influential aspect. The Chilean cueca is highly structured in terms of dance, lyrics, and music, akin to early European dances from colonial times. While the genre does incorporate some Afro-oriented aspects like Zamacueca, cueca represents a fusion of various genres. To understand its evolution, one should observe the different Spanish, European, and popular dances of the era. The Arab-Andalusian influence is considered the most significant contribution to cueca in all aspects—dancing, singing, and tempo—and is regarded as its primary root.
During the second half of the nineteenth century, cueca spread to various Latin American countries, where the dance became known simply as the "chilena". In Argentina, cueca first appeared in Cuyo, in the central west of the country near the Chilean border, documented as early as around 1840. Unlike the northeast and central west, in Buenos Aires the dance was known as "cueca" rather than "chilena", with documented presence from the 1850s onward. Similarly, in Bolivia, like much of Argentina, the dance was referred to as "chilena". Chilean sailors and adventurers carried cueca to the Mexican coast, specifically in Guerrero and Oaxaca, where the dance was also called "chilena". In Peru, the dance became immensely popular during the 1860s and 1870s and was also known as the "chilena".

Twentieth century

During the twentieth century, cueca became associated with the common man in Chile, and through them, the dance spread to pre-industrialized urban areas such as La Vega, Estación, and Matadero, which were on the outskirts of Santiago at the time. In the 1970s, cueca and Mexican music enjoyed similar levels of popularity in the Chilean countryside. Due to being distinctly Chilean, cueca was chosen by Pinochet's military dictatorship to be promoted.
Cueca was officially declared the national dance of Chile due to its significant presence throughout the country's history, announced via a public decree in the Official Journal on November 6, 1979. Emilio Ignacio Santana, a cueca specialist, argues that the dictatorship's appropriation and promotion of cueca had negative effects on the genre. According to Santana, the dictatorship's endorsement resulted in the wealthy landlord becoming the icon associated with cueca, rather than the rural laborer.

Cueca sola

is a solo variant of the cueca created in 1978 by Violeta Zúñiga and other members of the Association of Families of the Detained-Disappeared as a non-violent protest against the Pinochet dictatorship. In this form of cueca, a woman dances alone while holding a photograph of her disappeared loved one.
During the television campaign advertising the "No" option in the 1988 Chilean national plebiscite, a group of women performed the cueca sola. This powerful display of resistance was later re-enacted by surviving members of the group for the 2012 Academy Award-nominated film No, directed by Pablo Larraín.
The symbolic gesture of cueca sola inspired the 1987 song "They Dance Alone " by Sting.

Clothing and dance

The clothing worn during the cueca dance is traditional Chilean attire. Men typically wear a huaso's hat, shirts, a flannel poncho, riding pants, short jacket, riding boots, and spurs. Women wear flowered dresses.
The cueca dance itself symbolizes a rooster-chicken relationship. The man initiates the dance by approaching the woman and offering his arm. The woman then accompanies him, and together they walk around the room. They eventually face each other, each holding a handkerchief in the air, and begin dancing. Although they do not touch physically, they maintain contact through facial expressions and movements that convey flirtation and courtship.
Throughout the dance, it is customary for the pair to wave a white handkerchief, which is an essential element of the cueca.

Basic structure

The basic structure of the cueca is that it is a compound meter in or and is divided into three sections.
Some differences can be noticed depending on geographical location. There are three distinct variants in addition to the traditional cueca:

The northern cueca: The main difference with this version is that there is no singing in the accompanying music which is played with only sicus, zamponas, and brass. trumpets, tubas. Also, both the music and the dance are slower. This dance is done during religious ceremonies and carnival.
The cueca from the central region: This genre is mostly seen in Chile. The guitar, accordion, guitarron, and percussion are the prevailing instruments.
The Chiloé cueca: This form has the absence of the cuarteta. The seguidilla are repeated and there is a greater emphasis on the way the lyrics are presented by the vocalist.
Interpretation

'''Practice'''

Cuequear traditionally takes place during the Fiestas Patrias in September, when cueca academies fill up and cuecódromos are set up for learning. Cuequeo takes place with live music, mainly at the fondas of O’Higgins Park in downtown Santiago since 2016. It is customary for authorities to inaugurate the September national celebrations with a pie de cueca —each of its three dances—. There are places in the Chilean capital where cueca is danced year-round, chiefly at La Casa de la Cueca since 1983.
Ruedas cuequeras are a way of singing, playing, and composing Chilean cueca. They consist of singers and instrumentalists forming a circle and singing por mano, that is, dividing the song into copla, first seguidilla, second seguidilla, and remate, with each part assigned to a different singer, passing the singing to the right. First and second voices are performed while the instruments are played.
Esquinazos are common for authorities and foreigners, mainly at the Military Parade since 1969. Cuecadas are simultaneous exhibitions by numerous couples from groups with live music, schools, folk ensembles, or cueca clubs, notably the Saludo Folklórico in Los Ángeles since 2008. Cuecazos are organized in public places on any date, when cueca is danced massively, continuously, and for long periods with live music. Notable examples include Cuecas Mil for more than 36 hours in San Bernardo since 1992—known as the largest “cueca gathering” in Chile—, the Cuecatón during the Teletón in Maipú since 2002, and The Longest Cueca in Chile, stretching more than one kilometer, in Villarrica.