Chinchaypujio District

Siqllas Chinchaypujio dancers in Chinchaypujio

• Cchuchu: The most important of all the costumes in the parades. Cchuchu was - unlike most others - originally created in Chinchaypujio. It was inspired by a dream, in which the Holy mother allegedly asked for a dance involving trembling gestures and leather. The Cchuchu dancers carry willow branches, dress in white and tremble during their dance ritual.[13]
• Huayllascha: An Inca-era dance in which single men and women dance with the hope of generating marriages among each other. Women wear multiple strands of braided hair (similar to open Cornrows), overslung round hats and black dresses with colorful accents.
• Q'Apaq Negro: A colonial-era dance, mostly performed by men, remembering the period of slavery for Afro-Peruvians. It features locals with round hats, scarfs around their waistline, blue pants, black masks, black gloves and small Sceptres with black hands. The dance symbolizes both the struggles of slavery; its colorful ornaments and shiny stones represent the strength of black people in colonial Peru gaining liberty.[14]
• Saqras Chinchaypujio: These dancers represent the court of Lucifer; they enter the festivity at night with torches, simulating their arrival from hell. When the Virgin mary statue is brought out in the procession, the Saqras cover their faces to not make eye contact, symbolizing the divine power of Mary over the courts of hell. Large, long wigs with Deer horns and colorful, vertically striped full-body outfits are typical for this costume.

Q'apaq Negro and Negrillas dancers in the "Virgen Asunta" parade

• Negrillas: Women dancers representing freed black female slaves. Their dance is slow, a symbolic devotion to the Virgin Mary's role in their liberation from slavery. The dancers wear white dresses with circular hats and black scarfs around their necks, but do not use masks.
• Q'Apaq Qolla: These dancers represent the historical trade of cheese, Quinoa and other products between the Collao/Puno region and the Anta Province including Chinchaypujio. This trade resulted in prosperity for both trade partners, so the dance is an homage to the trade relationship between the two regions. Dancers wear white fabric masks, green-yellow scarfs and large red plates on their backs.
• Mollos Tinkus: This dance is only performed in the months of May through July; it is a Harvest festival aspect of the Potato farming in the region of Chinchaypujio. While mainly inspired by harvest, the choreography of the dance features "rhythmic funny hip movements" symbolizing water and Sexual intercourse in a light-hearted manner.[15] Female dancers wear wide skirts that billow during the dance movements, and are decorated with horizontal, colorfully stitched Handicraft.
• Wayna Q'Oyacha: This dance is performed by female "Qoyachas" and male "Huaynas", all of them single, demonstrating and celebrating their willingness to get married. The women wear white and pink dresses, the men colorful Inca-style hats, wild masks and red vests. This dance is popular throughout the whole Cusco Region.

Contra Danzas in a Chinchaypujio parade

• Contra Danza: A dance of Colonial Peruvian origin. It parodies the colonial elite who, at the time, would reject Indigenous and Mestizo people from their ballroom parties in larger cities like Cusco. The dance was started by farmers who organized their own "contra danzas" - literally, "Against Dances" - in protest of the Spanish elites. Leading the dance troupe is a person dressed in blue like a Landlord of the time; other dancers wear red scarfs around their hips and colorful pants.
  

  The Coca Saruy dancing child troupe Terrala Cocasaru in Chinchaypujio after a parade
• Coca Saruy: This "return to home" dance and costume represents enslaved Peasants who were forced to move from the Andes mountains to the Peruvian Jungle in order to work on Coca plantations. Their pants are torn apart in order to symbolize the strenuous return journey back to the highlands. The choreography is light-hearted, as many of the workers returned after having escaped, just being glad to be alive. At the end of each dance performance, all performers drop to the ground, shaking violently - a memorial to the many that died of Malaria and other tropical diseases during their forced labor. The troupe features a nurse, a land owner and a military general, as the Government of Peru was militarily involved in the Coca worker's migration. In Chinchaypujio, a children's troupe and choir is part of this custom, the "Terrala Cocasaru". Children of this troupe end the dance by asking adult women for a dance, as a symbol for the happiness the farmers felt when they could reunite with their community. Dancers wear white felt hats, plaid shirts and torn denim pants.
• Majeños Chinchaypujio: These dancers satirize drunkards from the Majes-Arequipa region who came to the Cusco region with many goods, including liquor. The dancers wear wild masks, wide-brimmed white hats and brown leather jackets. The dance is of mestizo-republican origin.
• Siqllas Chinchaypujio: The dancers in this tradition represent corrupt Lawyers, Judges and other administrative government officials who wielded their power in an unfair way against the farmers of the region. The dance is popular around the Cusco region, and features masked dancers with colonial-style black hats, red or blue suits with white backs. The dancers rhythmically slap a black book with a small whip; the book represents the Penal code or Bible and is a symbol for abusing said authoritative writings to punish the poor rural population in a corrupt manner. Some troupes also include a Construction manager with a Hard hat and a Politician in suit and tie, slapping stacks of dollar bills in their hands instead. The dance style is light-hearted and satirical.
• Auqa Chileno: A dance invented by Peruvian war veterans of the War of the Pacific, satirizing their Chilean opponents. Dancers wear conical hats and large-nosed masks.
• Runa Toro: This dance happens primarily in the Bullring, with a two humans pretending to be in a Bullfight. They wear fluffy costumes and use a Quechua-style patterned blanket as a representation of the usually bright-colored blanket used in real bull fights. This dance is often performed to open or close a real bullfight.

Many of the costumes in Chinchaypujio feature Court dress-style black buckled shoes, a satirical commentary on colonial Aristocracy.