Llamerada

Meaning of the Bolivian and Peruvian Llamerada dance

This dance is ment to represent the Highland lama holders and breeders. Therefore the dancers traditionally hold a little lama in their left hand while rotating the "honda" in their right. Some claim that the Llamerada is a very old, even incaic dance, an argument mainly based on the fact that llama herding has been very important to the indigenous peoples of the Andes for centuries. There is very little known about how the actual version emerged; even the costumes have changed a lot during the last few decades. The headdress used at present is said to represent the traditional headdress of Aymara leaders (in both sides of the Titicaca Lake) and in fact it quite resembles the headdress of the "Mama Talla", the wife of an Aymara Community leader.
* [http://www.bolivia.at.tf photos and videos of the Llamerada and other Bolivian dances]