The cueca cuyana is a lively couple dance of the Cuyo region, at the foot of the Andes. Partners wave handkerchiefs as they circle, advance and retreat in a flirtatious courtship, ending with a zapateo and a final meeting. Its music — tonadas and cuecas played on several guitars and sung in duets — is the soundtrack of Mendoza’s wine harvest festival.
Cuyo was part of the Captaincy General of Chile in colonial times, and its cueca shares roots with the Chilean cueca — both descend from the Peruvian zamacueca of the early 19th century. In Argentina, the cueca cuyana developed its own phrasing and a strong guitar tradition, with songs about vineyards, mountains and love. The northern cueca norteña of Jujuy and Salta is a related but distinct form. In Mendoza, the Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia, held every year around late February and early March, fills the Frank Romero Day amphitheatre with thousands of dancers, and the cueca is at the heart of local peñas and family celebrations.
