El Alto | Queer: Gender Sexuality and the Arts in the Americas

Peru / Bolivia
56 Rethinking the Andean Fiesta in Cuir Folkloric Times
57
RETHINKING THE
ANDEAN FIESTA IN CUIR
FOLKLORIC TIMES
Enzo E. Vasquez Toral
The patron-saint fiesta is an iconic cultural
expression that encompasses what we
traditionally understand as folklore in the Andes.
Bringing together the ritual aspects of danzas
(dance-dramas) and Catholic devotion in the
form of masses and processions, fiestas are also
performative reminders of the colonial past
of this region. 1 Perhaps, danzas stand as
most significant reenactments of the
past, as societal roles and history are staged
and embodied through performance. Broadly
understood, danzas are costumed —and
sometimes masked— ritual dance-dramas
composed of different characters who perform
to a song for long periods of time in a particular
space, parade route and/or choreography. As
anthropologist Zoila Mendoza has noted, danza
performance has been “a site of confrontation
and identity negotiation” since colonial times,
and when introduced to the space of Catholic
celebrations, they stood as “expressive forms of
subordinated groups,” converting danzas and
fiestas as spaces that have shaped personal and
community identities beyond the space and time
of celebration. 2
Despite the possibilities of insubordination that
danza performance affords, most fiestas are
grounded in local prestige and patriarchal ruling.
For instance, fiesta organisers are usually men
who act as gatekeepers of tradition and who
only in certain cases allow women to take on
greater participation. 3 However, what has greatly
escaped our purview of the fiesta is that over
the past decades it has not only been women
but also gay men and trans women who have
also sought to carve a space for themselves. 4 If
gender and sexuality are defining and conflictual
forces in the Andean fiesta, how can we rethink it
at a time when its patriarchal ruling and Catholic
rituals have been in contact with gender and
sexual non-normativity? In this article I highlight
some of the contributions of local gay and trans
artists in patron-saint fiestas in Peru and Bolivia.
Looking at these cases, I argue that queerness
becomes a daring activist presence and invitation
to rethink the Andean fiesta—and folklore at
large—if we consider the aesthetic and affective
experiences that these artists bring and embody
as community members.
Throughout this text I use cuir as an
encompassing and permeable term to describe
gender and sexual non-normativity in the
folkloric space of the fiesta in relation to gay and
trans identities. Localised terms such as marica,
travesti and transformista have been used and
appropriated by LGBTI+ 5 members across the
Andes to refer to themselves. My intention to
mobilise cuir is not to replace such terms, but
it stands as a decolonial gesture to the term
“queer” which has been greatly introduced
through Western academic discourse. Along the
same line, cuir has been “mobilised” before by
many scholars and activists in Latin America for
similar and different purposes. 6 Here I utilise
cuir to mark the changing and non-normative
times that I advocate for in our understanding
of the fiesta if we look at how marica, travesti,
and transformista artists have contributed to
this space vis-à-vis the pervasive patriarchal
and nationalistic views embedded in folkloric
narratives across the Andes.
Panoramic view of La Fiesta de la
Tunantada at Plaza Juan Bolívar Crespo,
Yauyos, Jauja Province (Peru), 2017.
© Enzo Vasquez Toral.
Cuir Remakings in La Fiesta de la Tunantada
La Fiesta de la Tunantada (The Tunantada Fiesta)
is a Peruvian patron-saint fiesta in honor of Saint
Sebastian and Saint Fabian celebrated on January
20-25 in Yauyos, Jauja. 7 The Tunantada is both
the name of the fiesta and the only danza that is
performed by over thirty different dance troupes
or cuadrillas around a plaza where dancing,
contests, and music performances take place.
Huanqa (left), Sicaína (center),
Jaujina (right) before dancing at
La Fiesta de la Tunantada, Yauyos,
Jauja Province (Peru), 2019 © Enzo
Vasquez Toral.
Particular to this danza, all of the characters
must wear masks, and represent male and female
identities that collectively tell the colonial history
of Jauja as a space for commerce and trade. In
the beginning of this fiesta in late 19th century,
the Tunantada was an all-male affair as select
men would cross-dress as female characters
since women participation was prohibited. 8 In
this sense, this tradition established what I call
a type of “patriarchal ritual cross-dressing.”
Nevertheless, since approximately the 1970s,
women have been included and, more recently,
trans women and gay men have danced as