swaying. Their extended arms elongate their movements. Both male and female dancers use mainly their arms and upper body move- ments to tell their stories. Hand-held cari- bou hair fans, said by McIntyre to represent the human spirit itself, accentuate the fluid movements of the women’s arms, while men dance with feathered finger fans. Though firmly grounded, the dance is graceful. Some dance stories and movements are
inherited, others are newly composed. The Quyana (Thank-You) Song Dance, fea- tured in Circle of Dance, is ultimately about growing up. The song describes a dancer’s clothing. As McIntyre writes, “As we grow up, we receive more responsibilities. The ornaments Yup’ik dancers wear are the physical manifestations of our responsibili- ties. So the song’s message is that we Yup’ik ought to be thankful for the responsibilities bestowed upon us.”
QUECHUA DANZA DE TIJERAS (SCISSOR DANCE)
dance) is performed in Quechua commu- nities such as Huancavelica, Ayacucho and Andahuaylas in the south-central Andean highlands, and now in urban centers. The dance is performed by usually male, but sometimes female, dancers who wear multi- colored outfits embroidered with gold fringe, multicolored sequins and small mirrors. As Peruvian historian Fernando Flores-
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Zuniga writes, the dancers form teams with violinists and harpists, and their dance involves step-dancing and acrobatics, dy- namic gymnastic movements requiring great dexterity and physical ability. Powerfully athletic, they dance with explosive power either standing or on the ground with hands supporting the dancer as much as the feet. Trained from a very young age, the dancers hold two scissor blades in their right hand, which they strike to the rhythm of the music as they dance. The origins of the danza de tijeras are
obscure, but the dance today fuses Christian tenets with indigenous beliefs centered on the spiritual importance of the natural world and, in particular, the Andean mountains. The dancers are said to gain their endurance from the wamanis, or spirits of the moun- tains. The danza de tijeras is performed at festivals timed to accord with the Andean Highland agricultural calendar and also with Catholic feast days. Though now an integral
esignated in 2010 by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hu- manity, the danza de tijeras (scissor
Maya maize god (central figure) emerging into world, dancing and playing turtle-shell drum. Detail of San Bartolo mural from El Peten, Guatemala. First-century B.C. Rendering by Heather Hurst.
ENTER, DANCING
turtle-shell drum worn as a pectoral. The maize god is dancing back to life after his mythic journey to the underworld. He is depicted in a typical Maya dance pose, with knees turned out and one heel raised. He is posed between the rain spirit Chaac and the spirit of standing water. According to Karl Taube, Maya scholar and project iconographer for the San Bartolo Project, this mural is one of the earliest portrayals of dance known from ancient Mesoamer- ica. Taube says that dance is a common
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ful and diverse form of cultural expression in many Native communities throughout the Americas. Reflecting different experiences and ways of being in the world, and compris- ing a vast range of dance styles and move- ment vocabularies, Native dances draw on deeply rooted cultural traditions. Ultimately, they remind people of their connection to all
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part of village Catholic feast-day observances, dancers dressed in their regalia – considered the god-children of the wamanis – are not allowed in churches.
espite the many historical factors that have interfered with its practice, dance remains a vibrant, meaning-
n the exquisite first-century B.C. Maya murals of San Bartola, Guatemala, the maize god is de- picted emerging into this world dancing and playing music on a
theme in both pre-Classic and Classic Maya art. Dance scenes are depicted in Maya sculpture, ceramics and codices, as well as murals. Maya rulers, who often associated
themselves with the maize god, are some- times depicted dancing in elaborate feath- ered garb, as was the maize god himself. In Maya thought, maize foliation and green quetzal plumes, in particular, are symboli- cally linked. That dance was conceptually associated with the bringing of rain and maize is not restricted to the ancient Maya. It is a widespread – and ongoing – tradition in the Americas. And it is not the only example of the association of dance with life-generating forces and deities.
living things and unite people with the world around them. Whether invoking clouds, rain and growth, spirits of the ancestors or hunter’s prey, or, perhaps most remarkably, fusing intercultural histories, Native dances, often deeply integral to ritual performances, express core beliefs about the world and the most fundamental relationships upon which life depends. X
Cecile R. Ganteaume, NMAI curator of Circle of Dance, is also the curator of Infinity of Nations: Art and History in the Col- lections of the National Museum of the American Indian (on display at the Museum’s George Gustav Heye Center in New York City) and the editor of the publication of the same title. She is a recipient of a 2011 Secretary of the Smithsonian’s Excellence in Research Award.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 39
COURTESY OF BOUNDARY END ARCHAEOLOGY
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