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

El Alto
58 Rethinking the Andean Fiesta in Cuir Folkloric Times
59
female characters that were once for designed
heterosexual men.
Among the female dance characters,
participation by cuir dancers occurs in three
specific ones: The Huanqa, who represents
the native from the xauxa-huanqa nobility, the
Jaujina, who represents the elegant female
mestizo from Jauja, and the Sicaína, who is a
woman from the neighboring Sicaya district. 9
All three characters wear the same womanlooking
mask but differ in their costumes and
ways of dancing. Initially, the only female crossdressing
figure that existed was the Huanqa.
In 1977, after the amount of cuadrillas grew
considerably, the Tunantada moved from the
Plaza Distrital de Yauyos to the much larger Plaza
Juan Bolívar Crespo, where the fiesta currently
takes places now hosting thousands of attendees.
Based on my ongoing ethnographic work, there
are varying accounts about the participation
of women and cuir dancers in relation to the
emergence of the Jaujina and the Sicaína. Most
of my interlocutors believe that the move to
Plaza Juan Bolívar Crespo allowed for women
participation as the fiesta grew considerably.
Furthermore, in this process the Jaujina is said to
have appeared first and then the Sicaína. Some
of my interlocutors believe that local costumemakers
and cuir dancers helped in the process of
revamping and making these characters over the
years. Other interlocutors believe that women
pioneered these characters and that cuir dancers
only followed and contributed subsequently. The
discussion of who-started-what is beyond the
point, as it is common understanding that cuir
dancers usually bring eye-catching costumes and
accessories to each of the three characters, and
this stands most of the time as a reason why
they are invited to dance with certain cuadrillas.
As many women dancers tell me, “we need
to imitate and keep up with them.” In this
respect, cuir contributions affect tradition
through women’s imitation and competition even
if indirectly. However, that is not to say that
every woman—or man—in the Tunantada
Traditional Tunantada cuadrilla
dances and spectators at Plaza
Juan Bolívar Crespo, Yauyos, Jauja
Province (Peru), 2017. © Enzo
Vasquez Toral.
community acknowledges this aesthetic
intervention, or that they respect cuir individuals
as their equals.
The degree of acceptance of cuir dancers varies
greatly and it is mainly facilitated by the masking
that occurs in the Tunantada as a condition for
dancing. As mentioned before, all Tunantada
dancers must wear specific masks. Additionally,
each cuadrilla dances individually in front of their
assigned toldo (tent) accompanied by their music
bands but embedded in a sea of spectators that
barely make space for them (image 3).
Identities are constantly hidden, and masks aid
this process. Particular to cuir dancers, the mask
is both an entrance ticket and a paradoxical
enabler of visibility. Thus, the hyper-masking
through both mask and heavy costuming
facilitates cuir affect and its embodiment
through dancing. Each cuadrilla selectively
chooses their dancers, and there is not a specific
one that is composed of only cuir ones. This
means that cuir participants dance alongside their
heterosexual counterparts—both male and female—
and an audience that scrutinises, fetishises, and
sometimes celebrates their dancing skills as long as
they keep the mask on. 10 In the face of masking and
communal scrutiny, cuir dancers sometimes travel
in groups, look after each other, and celebrate
together. It is through kinship and a shared cuir
folkloric affect that their participation is enabled
in the first place.
Despite different levels of inclusion, the
contribution of some cuir dancers to the
Tunantada is undeniable. One of the most wellknown
cuir dancers is Henry Posadas who is
currently associated with the cuadrilla ran by
the Tunanteros Barrio Industrial La Primavera
Association (“La Primavera”). Most cuir dancers
do not live year around in Jauja, and although
some of them are native of the area like Henry,
they have migrated in a search of more LGBTfriendly
spaces to bigger cities such as Lima, or
currently reside abroad. Henry has been dancing
for almost 40 years since he was a teenager when
he used to dance as male characters. Now, Henry
dances the three female characters instinctively,
and is known for bringing innovative costumes
that many celebrate and imitate).
Henry’s case is one of a handful of cuir dancers
whose talent, contribution and work have made
a difference in the Tunantada and have allowed
for younger cuir generations to find a space for
dance and celebration. Most recently, Henry has
been featured in local newspapers and was given
in December 2018 an award from the Peruvian
Association of Journalists and Communicators of
Radio and Television in recognition for his work
in contribution to Peruvian Folklore. Although the
Tunantada community at large keeps overlooking
contribution by cuir dancers, Henry’s artistry
is a constant reminder that their contributions
cannot be silenced.
Henry Posadas dances as Sicaína in
lunch festivities with Tunantada
Association “La Primavera”, Jauja
Province (Peru), 2019. © Enzo
Vasquez Toral.
The Waphuri Galán in the Bolivian fiesta
La Familia Galán (Galán Family) is a drag collective
ba,sed in La Paz, Bolivia, described as a “group
of transformista activists for sex and gender
rights.” 11 Since their inception in the late 1990s,
they have intervened Bolivian spaces in gay
nightclubs, LGBTQI+ marches, contests and
parades, curated visual art exhibitions, produced
plays and pageants, and been featured and
published in magazines and local journals. Since
2001, they have also contributed to Bolivian
folklore through their participation as dancers in
fiestas such as Oruro’s Carnival in Oruro and La
Fiesta del Gran Poder (The Fiesta of the Great
Power) in La Paz. 12 Specifically, they created
a character called the Waphuri Galán in the
Kullawada danza which is one of the danzas
performed in both festivities.
Although the Waphuri has been a permanent
character for decades in the Kullawada, the