"La Marinera no se baila con los pies; se baila con el corazon. "
"The Marinera is not danced with the feet; it is danced with the heart."
A female dancer in a swirling skirt and a male dancer in a crisp white suit circle each other with elegant movements. She waves a white handkerchief and he flourishes a straw hat as their fancy footwork keeps time with the beat of a lively song. Welcome to the wildly popular Peruvian dance, the Marinera!
Many dance historians believe that the Marinera is rooted in an earlier dance called the zamacueca, which blended European, African, and Andean rhythms with quick, flirtatious movements. Through the years, Marinera developed into a national symbol of Peru. The dance has different versions: some slower, some faster, some danced with shoes, some danced without, and even a version involving dancing horses! But no matter the style, wherever there are Peruvians around the world, there is Marinera.
How did this dance become so popular? One reason is the establishment in 1960 of the National Marinera Festival in Trujillo, an annual event in this small city on the northern coast of Peru. In 2010, Trujillo expanded the competition to include dancers from around the world. Today, the International Marinera Competition, which takes place in late January and lasts for seven days, draws more than 1,000 dancers each year and brings tens of thousands of visitors to the city.
The competition in Trujillo also includes a Peruvian Paso horse category. Dancing with the Peruvian national horse, the paso, is one of the most specialized forms of Marinera. These beautiful horses, bred from animals brought to Peru from Spain in the 16th century, have a naturally rhythmic, high-stepping gait and can be trained to dance as nimbly as their human counterparts. During the dance, one partner is on horseback while the other is on the ground, imitating the movement of the horse.
Wilde Moran, originally from Peru and now living in Virginia, dances in competitions and exhibitions on his well-trained horse Explosivo, with his teenage daughter Valerie as a partner. Everyone is captivated by their performances, but audience members with roots in Peru get a double thrill from the experience: the Paso horse and Marinera, two symbols of Peruvian pride and cultural heritage rolled into one!
If you want to learn the Marinera, classes can be found everywhere from Italy to Japan. Most Friday evenings in Falls Church, Virginia, Peruvian American dancer Catherine Cabel Chicas conducts three hours of classes with students ranging from toddlers to moms and dads. Cathy, who started learning Marinera as a young teenager from Peruvian master dancer Alfredo DiNatale, is now a mom herself and started teaching her own children when they were less than a year old!
She coaxes her students with a combination of encouragement and commands. "Ladies and gentlemen, put away your giggles!" she says at one point. She wants them to feel the rhythm of the music with their whole body. "The Marinera is a heartbeat," she explains as she demonstrates a move.
Though she was born in the United States, Cathy has been to Peru several times to compete. The first time she went, she was amazed. "They're so passionate about it--nobody warned me!" Competitions are fierce and practicing several hours a day is common. "I thought, 'What did I sign myself up for?"'
Now, she cannot imagine her life without Marinera. She has traveled to France, Spain, and Italy to compete and dreams of bringing some of her best students to international competitions as well. For Cathy's students and people all over the world, Marinera truly represents the heart and soul of Peru.
FAST FACTS
In 1879, the Marinera was officially named in honor of the Peruvian navy. (Marinero is the Spanish word for "sailor" or "seaman.")
Marinera can be danced in regular street clothes, but many fancy outfits worn by girls and women in competition are embroidered by hand and cost several hundred dollars.
The gait of a Peruvian paso is so smooth that it is said the rider could drink a cup of coffee without spilling it while putting the horse through its paces!
by Smithsonian Staff
Caption: A young dancer competes in the annual Festival de la Marinera in Trujillo, Peru. Photo by Lucho Saldivar/PROMPERU
Caption: Cathy Chicas, instructor at the Sentimiento Peruano Dance School, leads a class in learning La Marinera. Photo by Betty Belanus, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution
Caption: More a popular dance, some Marinera styles Include beautifully handmade dresses, delicate earrings, and elaborate hairstyles. Photo by Cristina Diaz-Carrera, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution
Caption: A couple dances the Marinera at a street festival in Lima. Photo by Martin Pauca/ PROMPERU
Caption: Margarita Guzman weaves a hat out of straw that will be worn by a male Marinera dancer. Photo by Alfredo DiNatale, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution
Caption: Students at the Sentimiento Peruano Dance School practice the Marinera with the skirts they will wear in competition. Photo by Betty Belanus, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution
Caption: Dancing the Marinera with a Peruvian Paso horse. Photo by Enrique Castro-Mendivil/PROMPERU PERU
Please Note: Illustration(s) are not available due to copyright restrictions.