Abstract
This study assesses the deployment of blackface in a performance of the Danza de Caporales at La Fiesta de la Virgen de la Candelaria in Puno, Peru, by the performance troupe Sambos Illimani con Sentimiento y Devoción. Since blackface is so widely associated with the nineteenth-century US blackface minstrel tradition, this article develops the concept of “hemispheric blackface” to expand common understandings of the form. It historicizes Sambos’ deployment of blackface within an Andean performance tradition known as the Tundique, and then traces the way multiple hemispheric performance traditions can converge in a single blackface act. It underscores the amorphous nature of blackface itself and critically assesses its role in producing anti-blackness in the performance.
Highlights
Siempre se ha visto al negrito loco con su sandía. (You’ve always seen the crazy little black with his watermelon.)
The drums sound and the performers shout: “ZAMBO!”. Their voices echo through the stadium filled with thousands of international tourists and local Peruvians who have traveled to Puno, Peru, for La Fiesta de la Virgen de la Candelaria
La Fiesta de la Virgen de la Candelaria is one of Peru’s most important yearly media events, and the press stream performances live on national television
Summary
This study assesses the deployment of blackface in a performance of the Danza de Caporales at La Fiesta de la Virgen de la Candelaria in Puno, Peru, by the performance troupe Sambos Illimani con Sentimiento y Devoción. Most of them are racially ambiguous, but none are identifiably black Today, they all claim to be sambos/zambos, and they ready themselves to perform a popular dance called the Danza de Caporales. The caporal, protagonist of the Danza de Caporales, has always been a feature of carnivals acting as the foreman of a dance squad or performance troupe The dance merges this figure with representations of blackness in a blackface dance known as the Tundique or Tundiki. Sambos’ performance is an instance where blackface emanates from the South outward, is catapulted and retransmitted into a global marketplace, and where another site of the Americas functions as the center of export for blackface tropes
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
