Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections, 2015.196.18, Connecticut Historical Soc ...

Flyer: Danzas Peruanas

DistributorDistributed by Danzas Peruanas (Peruvian, founded 2002)

Date2003-2004

MediumPaper

ClassificationsInformation Artifacts

Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections

CopyrightIn Copyright

Object number2015.196.18

DescriptionFlyer for Danzas Peruanas, a Peruvian dance group in Greater Hartford that participated in the Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, year 6.

NotesBiographical Note: Danzas Peruanas was founded in 2002 by a group of Peruvians in the Greater Hartford area who loved to dance, as a way to preserve and present Peru’s rich multicultural heritage of ethnic and folkloric music to audiences in Connecticut. The group started out by performing mostly for Peruvian community events, later broadening its repertoire and performing for many organizations and activities throughout the state, such as the Bushnell Park Cultural Awareness Day, the Taste of Latin America festival in West Haven, the Latino Expo in Hartford, and the Central Connecticut State University International Day. In 2003 Danzas Peruanas was selected to participate in the Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program under which they worked with master Peruvian dance teacher Gloria Martenson from Boston to learn new dances. The group also collected authentic costumes for the new dances, and collaborated with other musical groups, such as Amark and Negrura Peruana, to enhance its performances.

Founder Cattya Cubas: I am proud to be Peruvian as well as very proud to share my culture and folklore with the great community in the Hartford area. Starting this group was a great rewarding experience because it has allowed us the opportunity to share our traditions, lifestyle, and culture through art. One of the objectives of the group has been to encourage young Peruvians to continue Peruvian cultural traditions for future generations here in America. I had danced before in Trujillo, Perú since I was 8 years old, in different events such as Peruvian dance studios and elementary school through university. I believe that traditional dances and folk music has always been part of my life and I am looking forward to meeting new people as our group performs more widely in Connecticut.

Subject Note: The Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program is a CCHAP initiative since 1997 that fosters the sharing of community-based traditional (folk) artistic skills through the apprenticeship learning model of regular, intensive, one-on-one teaching by a skilled mentor artist to a student/apprentice. The program pairs master artists from RI, MA, or CT with apprentices from one of the other states, as a way to knit together members of the same community or group across state lines. Teaching and learning traditional arts help to sustain cultural expressions that are central to a community, while also strengthening festivals, arts activities and events when master/apprentice artists perform or demonstrate results of their cooperative learning to public audiences. The Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program at the Connecticut Historical Society manages the program in collaboration with the Folk Arts Program at the Massachusetts Cultural Council and independent folklorist Winifred Lambrecht who has a deep knowledge of the folk arts landscape of Rhode Island. Primary funding for the program comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, with support also from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, the Institute for Community Research, and the Connecticut Historical Society.

Additional audio, video, and images exist in the archive relating to these artists.

Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.

Status

Not on view