Living in Peru : your everyday companion

By Ben Jonjak

Documentaries are interesting in that they often set out to tell one tale and end up inadvertently telling another.  In fact, this is the result that you hope for when you make such a film.  Documentaries quest for a truth beyond the artificiality of scripted film-making and, in pursuit of that ambition, some documentary filmmakers will go to extreme lengths to limit their interaction with their subject matter (I’ve heard of some purists who refuse to even open a window to improve the lighting of their shots as it destroys the “truth” of their film). 

What Peruvian viewers are going to find most fascinating about “Soy Andina” isn’t the film’s intended subject of the pursuit of traditional Peruvian dance.  Although the film takes place mostly in Peru, it contains a great deal of internal (sometimes sub-conscious) conflict with American cultural perspective.  This is provided by the young dancer Cynthia as she struggles with her identity as a Peruvian-American.  In the end, as any Peruvian could have told you, Cynthia finds her time in Peru illuminates her to a great deal of beauty in the world she never knew was there.

Mitch Teplitsky, the director of “Soy Andina,” does an excellent job of “hiding” his camera so that his subjects reveal a fairly intimate part of themselves.  Although there are a few contrived scenes (the e-mail segments, the mailing of the Fulbright application, and Cynthia’s moment of “spiritual release” on the shores of lake Titicaca), these are included to provide necessary narrative coherence and don’t interrupt or distort the film’s message.

Superficially, “Soy Andina” is the story of two women who make an effort to reconnect with their Peruvian heritage.  The young, New York-born dancer Cynthia Paniagua does a performance of Peruvian dance with Nelida Silva and becomes inspired to go to Peru to learn more.  Nelida, too, embarks on a journey to Peru to host the fiesta patronal of her native village of Llamellin.  Throughout the film, Nelida serves as a guide (mainly through email) for the struggling Cynthia. 

I would have enjoyed seeing a bit more of Nelida (who was born and raised in Peru) and her cultural perspectives in the film.  In one of her few moments of dialogue, she is complaining about how a certain woman doesn’t have much social status in Llamellin (a perspective that doubtlessly arose from Nelida’s time in the US, and not Peru).  The implied sexism is in conflict with the fact that the men of Llamellin accept Nelida to direct their most important festival.

The movie, which was probably intended for an American audience, is far more interested in Cynthia.  Although Cynthia has Peruvian heritage and can speak Spanish, she is so obviously American that her fellow students at her dance school take to calling her “la gringa.”  Oddly, Cynthia expresses annoyance that in the US she is treated with a certain amount of deference due to her minority status, whereas in Peru her American citizenship places her in a different social category.  I found this fascinating because there is a general consensus that minorities are mistreated in the US.

In watching “Soy Andina” I found myself feeling tremendously grateful that nobody was following me around with a camera during my first months in Peru recording my awkward moments of self-doubt.  Without being too critical of Cynthia, it should be noted that anybody who commits to living in a foreign country is going to feel awkward, frustrated, out of place, and even occasionally angry in their new environment.

When traveling abroad, Americans specifically exhibit a common set of difficulties that come from their cultural programming.  One of the things that I have always found to be delightful about Peruvians is their sense of cultural pride.  Peruvians are the first to admit that Peru has problems, but they love their country with all their heart.  In contrast, Americans are imbued with an unquestionable sense that their country is the best in the world and they carry this superior attitude openly on their features, taking offense at any criticism of the US (this is the basis of the “ugly American” syndrome, and you can see it in Cynthia’s expressions).  As an American, I love my country, but, unlike other Americans, I have learned to not feel any reluctance or sense of cultural betrayal in admitting it too has its problems (It only took about six years, and I still have a long way to go.  Cultural programming is hard to undo, so please be patient with us Americans).

As a dancer, Cynthia notices a freedom of movement in Nelida that she is unable to achieve.  She attributes this to the fact that she has been trained to focus on the technical steps rather than concentrate on the flow of the music.  Peruvians often affectionately say that Americans are “stiff” in their movements, and you only need to step into a disco for five minutes here in Lima to see what they’re talking about.

Though Cynthia appears to be a fairly capable dancer, she never achieves the fluidity of movement that is common in Peru (in fairness, one year isn’t enough time to learn it).  At one point, she is asked to do a recital wearing the white shirt and blue pants of the boys (the girls had attractive dresses).  Her frustration/humiliation at this event causes her to abandon Lima in pursuit of the dances in their place of origin.

Although it was perhaps American pride that provoked her sojourn into the Peruvian countryside, it turns out to be the best thing for her.  She becomes quite proficient at la Marinera in Trujillo, and has a go at Afro-Peruvian dance with the Ballumbrosio family of El Carmen.

American audiences will probably be fascinated by Cynthia’s journeys and courage, however I believe Peruvians will find some of her choices a little bit odd.  For being involved with an association as prestigious as the Fulbright, Cynthia’s choices in terms of places of study seem kind of random.  She doesn’t go to the best schools of Lima, and at one point she simply looks for a Marinera teacher in the phone book.  I thought it was odd that she never went to the Jungle (where another whole chapter of Peruvian dance can be found), and she never steps foot in a discotheque (where many would say modern Peruvian dance truly lives).

The reality is that Cynthia is the star of the film and not Peruvian dance.  Had this been a documentary about Peruvian dances, we would have seen expert Peruvian dancers performing them.  In “Soy Andina,” it is rare to see anyone dancing but Cynthia.  However, by the end of the film Cynthia has taken her first steps on the way to becoming Peruvian, and that is what makes the film fascinating.  Certainly she has a long voyage ahead of her but the film contains a hint of how an individual can learn to “get over themselves;” an endeavor in which we could all use a few more lessons.

It’s interesting to note that Americans are going to see this as a film about a courageous young woman’s journey into herself and into a foreign land while Peruvians are probably going to see this as an amusing “fish out of water” escapade.  The amazing thing is that both perspectives are equally accurate.

The End

There will be two screenings of “Soy Andina” on August 12 at Centro Cultural Ricardo Palmas in Miraflores.