Grupo Tradiciones, or Group of Traditions, is new to Tucson Meet Yourself. Last year, they performed for the first time and it was a huge success. Here's a video they made of last year's performance. It's kind of long but it'll give you an idea of what they do.

I didn't get a chance to see them at TMY last year, but I have seen them at a couple of times at Peruvian heritage events here and in Phoenix.

The group is divided in two parts: the musicians and the dancers. The musicians play songs that are traditional to different areas of Peru, from the Andean region to the coast, and the dancers perform the dances that are paired up with the specific style of music.

I spoke with one of the dancers, Siby Quiroz, and she said this year they will be performing a dance called Virgenes del Sol, Virgins of the Sun, which is an Andean ritual to Inti, the Incan sun god. The second one is called Zamacueca, which is an Afro-Peruvian style dance.

Grupo Tradiciones will perform at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 13 at the Global Rhythms stage. I hope everyone is able to check them out, and learn more about the Peruvian community here in town.