During the patron saint fiesta in the Andean town of San Jeronimo, Peru, crowds gather at sunset in the town square, eagerly awaiting the entrance of the colorful dance troupes, or comparsas. With their masks, music, and surprising interpretations of contemporary events, the comparsas of the Cusco region are the focus of this multifaceted work. At the crossroads of folklore and ritual, mass media and local preferences, and regional and national identity, the comparsas--recorded here on VHS, DVD, and compact disc--have become a powerful way for the local people to make...

In Creating Our Own, anthropologist Zoila S. Mendoza explores the early-twentieth-century development of the folkloric arts particularly music, dance, and drama in Cuzco, Peru, revealing the central role that these expressive practices played in shaping ethnic and regional identities. Mendoza argues that the folkloric productions emerging in Cuzco in the early twentieth century were integral to, rather than only a reflection of, the social and political processes underlying the development of the indigenismo movement. By demonstrating how Cuzco s folklore emerged from complex...

In Creating Our Own, anthropologist Zoila S. Mendoza explores the early-twentieth-century development of the folkloric arts particularly music, dance, and drama in Cuzco, Peru, revealing the central role that these expressive practices played in shaping ethnic and regional identities. Mendoza argues that the folkloric productions emerging in Cuzco in the early twentieth century were integral to, rather than only a reflection of, the social and political processes underlying the development of the indigenismo movement. By demonstrating how Cuzco s folklore emerged from complex...