About Huancayo |
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On the left bank of the Mantaro River, in a luscious, fertile valley 310 kilometers from Lima and 3244 meters above sea level lies the city of Huancayo, capital of the department of Junin and the main commercial center of inland Peru.
Huancayo was the cradle of the Huanca nation, the home of a people known for their pride, warrior spirit."
"The Huanca people...[sic]...are frendlys, hard-working, traditional and very religious.
These traits are apparent in the nearly endless chain of local festivals that occur in the region.
It is said there is a festival somewhere in the Mantaro Valley every day of the year. And where there are festivals, there is dancing. It is estimated that with all the regional variations taken into account, there are more then 5000 different Andean dances.
Though it is impossible to mention all of the dances and festivals of the Mantaro Valley, some certainly stand out.
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La Tunantada (The Rascal) is danced on January 20 in Jauja and Yuayos in honor of Saint Sebastian and Saint Fabian. It is a picaresque, mischievous and crafty dance that is clearly a product of colonial influence, as it parodies the despotism and presumptuousness of the Spanish powers.
In February, there are carnival celebrations all month long, and the Semana Santa festivities in March/April should not be missed. May is the month of the La Fiesta de las Cruces (Festival of the Cross), where towns throughout the Valley perform special dances such as the Chonguinada in Chongos in which dancers wearing masks and colorful costumes commemorate the wedding of a Spaniard to a beautiful native of the town in a graceful and elegant parody of the French minuet.
The same festival in Chupaca features the famous dance of the Shapis, a war dance commemorating the Hunaca's return to their land after fleeing the Incas.
Sapallanga, Orcotuna, Apata and Marcatuna celebrate their fiestas in honor of the Sanctified Virgin of the Cocharas on September 8, at which time they also reproduce