Friday we went to Smithsonian at 8's Chicha! A Peruvian Dance Party at Blind Whino. We snapped Charles Pham, who works in cybersecurity, with Anne Cooley, and Miranda Escate, who works in environmental biotech.
The Peruvian party celebrated chicha, an urban music genre originating in Peru that combines a variety of global sounds, like South American cumbias and psychedelic surf guitars, with local Andean melodies. It’s also the knockout style of neon poster art that exploded as chicha bands began to make their mark in the late 1960s. Here, Smithsonian Associates' Elizabeth Wilkie, Amanda Chavenson and Lauren Rosenberg.
The dance party featured Lima’s DJ Sabroso and local favorite DJ Kristy la rAt, Peruvian beers, Macchu Pisco cocktails, and Peruvian food truck El Fuego. Here, Embassy of Peru's Jorge Ponce, Erika Lizando, Branko Knežević Santivañez and Ana Lucia Nieto.
The dance floor featured the silk-screening of Peruvian chicha poster artist MONKY and indoor cherry blossoms in a funky glow in the dark atmosphere. The party was in partnership with this year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which highlights Peruvian culture June 24–28 and July 1–5. Smithsonian at 8 has after-hours gatherings with music, food and drink, in unique, fun evenings.
Richelle Manansala, Heather Mahoney & Alfredo Flores contributed to this issue.
