Choique

This dance is part of the Niguillatún, a traditional religious ceremony in which the indigenous Mapuche people pray to the God Nguenechén for prosperity, rains and good pastures. The three-day "supplication" is held annually in late summer and is filled with music, dancing and excitement. Before beginning the dance, the performers, mimicing the flight of the Queltehue bird, run with short, light steps around a traditional altar made from a notched tree-trunk set in front of the community. They do not follow a strict choreography, but rather improvise their movements, dancing both together and apart.


Marcelo David Quintoman Martial (born 1985), Santiago