Jula-Julas (4)

The Jula-Julas is a slow dance, so we were late. For luck, we jumped and stamped our feet, and then formed a long snake. When the charango player started to play it was time to run after him. Because we were already late, it was dificult to fit in with the organizers' schedule. We were interviewed by radio crews who didn't understand our dance. However, "so pretty!" The NATs learn the Jula-Julas, learn the origin of the Tinku, and learn that this dance comes from the countryside, from their own culture.

The girls dance and the man carries a cross. The cross represents both the nadean cross, the "chakana", and at the same time the Catholic cross. One way to continue the traditions prohibited by the Spanish: for the performers it was the chakana; for the colonialists it was the cross of their religion. The Bolivians of those times knew how to play with symbols.

The boys of the centre played the Jula-Julas prettily, and the girls danced prettily too. They had lots of fun, and without doubt it was the most original and also oldest dance of this entrada.