MOCHE: A PERUVlA>s' COASTAL COMMUNITi'— GILUN 



87 



also furnish alleged music during the mass in the 

 church. (2) A couple of fiddling orchestras, con- 

 sisting of violins, piano, and drums, are available 

 for occasional fox-trot dances. (3) Several men 

 play the "old-time" instruments in certain costumed 

 dances and parades. These old-time instruments in 

 Moche consist of the reed flageolet (quetia) and the 

 hand-made skin-covered drum. The only costumed 

 feast day which occurred during my stay was the 

 fiesta of Cristo Rey or Nuestro Senor de la Miseri- 

 cordia. A woman of the community has provided a 

 set of "Indian" costumes for the men and a set of 

 "angels' " costumes for the young girls. The In- 

 dians are dressed in a mixture of the North American 

 wildwest movie version of red Indians, with feathered 

 war bonnets, etc.. and certain modern addition?, such 

 as colored goggles, mirrors, and toy pistols (pi. 18, 

 lower (left) ). An unformalized allegorical dance 

 takes place while the image is being paraded. The 

 burden of the "plot" is a sort of contest between the 

 bad "Indians," or diablos (devils) as they are usually 

 called, and the angels. The parade is led by a couple 

 of flageolet players and drummers. One man dressed 

 as an "Indian devil" was playing both the flageolet 

 and the drum at the same time. The brass band 

 participates likewise. The woman who is patron of 

 this fiesta keeps the costimies put away in trunks 

 between the festival days when they are used. 

 (4) Guitar music is very popular, especially for the 

 informally arranged dances which develop along with 

 drinking and eating in the households. The guitars 

 use steel strings and seem to be played mostly by 

 younger men. There is one man in town who re- 

 pairs and tunes the instruments, on a semiamateur 

 basis. (5) One household in the pueblo has an old 

 and badly tuned piano, which the owner of the house 

 bought second-hand some years ago for 200 soles 

 (about $30.60). The owner's son has become an 

 efficient pianist, considering the instrument he has 

 to work with, and fiestas in this house are popular 

 on this account. As of the present, this young man 

 has not turned his talent into commercial channels, 

 but he is now organizing an orchestra with some of 

 his friends. The pianist for the fox-trot orchestra 

 which occasionally performs is a forastcro. 



Vocal music is not much developed as an art, but 

 rather as a form of recreation. During a drinking 

 spree, when the guitars have become well warmed 

 up, almost everyone will sing, or emit sounds said to 

 be singing. There is one professional vocalist among 

 the Mocheros. He has a good bass voice, and earns 



money singing in the church as cantor, and also in 

 Salaverry and Trujillo. He happens to be the owner 

 of the piano and the father of the young pianist. His 

 old father, now 93 years of age, tells me that he 

 was a professional cantor in his prime, and his father 

 before him. Thus we may speak of a family musical 

 by tradition, but, of course, the musical forms em- 

 ployed are native neither to Moche nor to Peru. 

 This man is also leader of the church choir, which, 

 however, is a comparatively small and unstable 

 group consisting mainly of young boys whose at- 

 tendance is not as regular as desired. 



There is no original composition in music of which 

 I am aware. 



Dancing appears in the following forms : ( 1 ) Al- 

 legorical dancing of the type indicated above in re- 

 ferring to the "devils" and "angels" is characteristic 

 of certain religious festivals. (2) Occasionally, on 

 the day of a special fiesta, the public market, which 

 has a cement floor, is turned into a dance hall for 

 modern dancing by couples. This type of dance is 

 called "fox trot," regardless of the fact that it may 

 include tangos, two-steps, waltzes, etc., as well as 

 fox trots. Only the younger and more sophisticated 

 natives of the Moche undertake this type of dancing, 

 and at these afTairs the majority of couples are 

 forastcros. (3) The typical folk dance of the Mo- 

 cheros, the dance which characterizes household 

 fiestas and drinking parties, is the marinera. This 

 tj'pe of social dancing is common to Sierra and coast 

 alike, throughout Peru, and hundreds of pieces of 

 special music have been composed for it (not in 

 Moche, however). The dance involves both sexes 

 but does not permit bodily contact between men and 

 women. Without going into a prolonged description, 

 the movements consist of the male partner's doing 

 a sort of two-step on the floor around his woman 

 partner while he waves a handkerchief in one or both 

 hands. He makes sudden turns, lunges, and ap- 

 proaches — which she coyly and rhythmically avoids. 

 The dance is very energetic for both partners and 

 they usually perspire copiously during its per- 

 formance. The usual pattern is several couples 

 dancing on the floor, while the rest of the party looks 

 on from the side lines, yelling encouragement and 

 making boisterous remarks. 



ART 



In the realm of pictorial art the stranger is im- 

 pressed by the general interest in an attempt at 

 painting. It is tempting to see this as a cultural 



