| Description: | The traditional Chilean dance, La Cueca, represents the different emotions and stages of romance and is danced in pairs, wearing colourful clothing. In La Cueca Sola, the women dance alone, dressed in severe black and white. Their husbands, sons, brothers, or lovers have been disappeared or exiled, so they continue the dance, wearing the image of their loved ones over their hearts.
La Cueca Sola has become a powerful story. The women prove to the world that their dance cannot be stopped by military action and their courage and determination has inspired people all over the world, including musician Sting, whose song “They dance alone” has been covered by many other artists. La Cueca Sola has inspired many different textile interpretations. This recent interpretation by Aurora Ortiz follows two earlier versions by her in 2012 and 2014.
3,216 people are currently recognised by the Chilean state as having been killed or disappeared by the dictatorship. A new state search initiative, announced in 2023, considers 1,469 of them to be still missing. Observatorio de Justicia Transicional, Universidad Diego Portales, Chile (2023)
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