I recently posted a photo on our Facebook and Twitter pages of a man dancing in Cusco’s main plaza, the Plaza de Armas. In the photo the man is alone but in reality he was surrounded by scores of other dancers from all over the region. This week I’m going to post a few more of the photos to give a better picture of the diverse and colorful costumes that flooded the plaza just before Holy Week kicked off. Enjoy.
A dancer wears a traditional hat often found in Cusco and surrounding communities like Oropesa and Chincheros
Dancers from Canas perform "Carnaval de Canas."
This dance is called "Huallatas" a quechan word that means "goose," like the goose feathers the dancers wear in their hats
The top of a man's hat whips around during a dance called "Carnaval de Canchis"
Elaborate costumes are used during performances of Caporales, a type of dance that originated in Bolivia.