Headed for virgin places: challenging and toughening hikes in the Peruvian Andes

Abstract

The residents of Andamarca (Lucanas province, Ayacucho department, Peru), mostly farmers and herdsmen, walk considerable distances every day to work on their plants and animals. However, a different type of hike stands out, as it defies nature in order to form a body that is stronger and more powerful than the human body. That is the purpose of the danzantes de tijeras – scissor dancers – when heading for virgin places, never before stepped by a human, to accumulate more strength and power. This article emphasizes these hikes as a practice that shapes both the body of these artists and the landscape.