Departure Dance

Tuesday 16 November 2010
Lima airport this morning at the departure gate, travellers were treated to an impromptu performance of Chilean song and dance by a group waiting for their flight to Caracas. The musicians were playing their guitars and singing beautifully, the people in the hall clapping along. Then, a couple got up to dance, circling each other, hankies waving above their heads. By the time I'd got my camera out it was nearly over but I managed a couple of shots.
Quality wise, the pictures are not much but it was a lovely, joyous interlude for everyone present, smiles all around. Maybe it could happen at Heathrow? Maybe not.
The dance is Chile's national dance. Called the Cueca, it parodies the courtship between a cockerel and chicken, the hankies representing a cocks comb.