Chile

Chile's Dances

Chile

Cueca — Chile’s emblematic partner dance: a playful courtship of circling steps, rhythmic footwork and waving handkerchiefs.

Cueca Nortina — The cueca of the far north, danced to brass bands and Andean festival ensembles.

Cueca Brava — Urban cueca of singers and neighbourhoods: powerful voices, layered rhythm and improvised energy.

Baile Chino — Devotional brotherhoods dance in paired lines to the powerful sound of flutes and drums; UNESCO-listed since 2014.

Diablada Nortina — Masked religious festival dance with dramatic devil figures, brass bands and Andean-Christian symbolism.

Trote Nortino — A lively highland couple dance with small bouncing steps, associated with northern Chile’s Andean communities.

Cachimbo de Tarapacá — A graceful northern couple dance with elegant turns and handkerchief gestures, especially associated with Tarapacá.

Tumbe Afroariqueño — An energetic Afro-Chilean rhythm and dance revitalized by communities in Arica, with strong percussion and collective movement.

Sau Sau (Rapa Nui) — A lyrical Rapa Nui partner dance with flowing hips and arms, shaped by the island’s wider Polynesian connections.

Hoko (Rapa Nui) — A forceful Rapa Nui performance tradition using group movement, calls and expressive gestures linked to ancestral identity.

Pericona Chilota — A communal couple-and-group dance from Chiloé, known for changing formations and lively social interaction.

Pürún (Mapuche) — Mapuche ceremonial movement associated with community, spirituality and reciprocity; not simply a stage folk dance.