The latest addition to dance at Yale, Danza Andina, is bringing Andean dance to the University as the first group of its kind.  

Jocelyn Naranjo ’25 founded the group this fall. Naranjo is from New York City, where she grew up participating in local Ecuadorian dance groups. Unlike other Latine dance groups at Yale, Danza Andina features dance specifically from the Andean region. 

“It is a way to build community,” Naranjo said. “Being Ecuadorian, specifically from the Andes, is a very unique experience as an indigenous person.”

Upon her arrival at Yale, Naranjo said she noticed a need for spaces where people could connect with the nuances of Latine culture. 

The University-wide student body is 11.4-percent Hispanic, according to Yale’s Office of Institutional Research. Out of over 400 clubs at Yale, approximately 18 are geared specifically toward the Latine community; of those, four cater to individual Latine ethnic groups.

The term Latine, according to Kassie Navarrete ’25, is often used as a “blanket term” to describe the dozens of individual cultures of Latin America. She added that while there are some similarities between them, the nuances of each culture can sometimes get lost. 

“Mexican folk dance and Andean folk dance are very different,” said Naranjo. “[There are] different movements and different instruments used. And culturally … I feel like Andean dance is still very much connected to its roots in indigeneity.”

Aside from Danza Andina, Yale has two other Latine dance groups: Ballet Folklórico and Sabrosura.

Ballet Folklórico, as a genre, has its roots in indigenous Mexican folk dance. However, as a result of Spanish colonization, it has evolved over time to include some elements of Spanish dance.

The Yale dance group Sabrosura combines different dancing styles from a variety of Latine cultures. Some of the styles practiced are cumbia, merengue and bachata and salsa — Colombian, Dominican and Cuban dances, respectively. 

“Having dancers from Andean regions can bring a new perspective to dance culture and also contribute to the cultural knowledge and exchange that we have here on campus,” said Navarrete, who is a member of several Latine cultural groups on campus.

Just 12 years ago, Yale’s total Latine population was under 500 students. Yale’s report for the fall of 2022 counts over 1,500 Hispanic students. As that number continues to grow, the need for campus student spaces also grows. 

As a member of the Ecuadorian indigenous group Kichwa-Kañari, Naranjo wanted to create a space where members of indigenous Central and South American tribes could find community.

Naranjo mentioned that while a very welcoming space, she feels that the Native American Cultural Center caters more toward North American indigenous groups. 

The percentage of indigenous people at Yale is 0.4 percent of the student body. Cultural initiatives are largely student-based, so representation depends on the leadership of students.

“A lot of people will meet with me, and … they’ll say something more or less along the lines, ‘Do I belong here? Do I fit in here?’” Matthew Makomenaw, director of the NACC, told the News. “We definitely do our best to try to make sure that … the NACC is open, and not just for people who identify as indigenous.”

While there are no concrete plans in place for specific Latine-Indigenous programming, the NACC welcomes students who might be interested in collaborating with them to represent their specific indigenous culture, Makomenaw added.

Naranjo’s new group received positive support from the Yale community. After promoting the group, she said that she received interest from dozens of undergraduate students, along with members of the graduate and medical schools.

She hopes that this group will be able to perform at events associated with La Casa Cultural, host dance workshops and help teach the Yale community more about Andean culture. Additionally, she said she wants the influence of her group to spread beyond New Haven.

“[My goal is to] promote indigenous Andean culture, unite us all through dance and create a space for us to praise our ancestors,” she said. With Danza Andina, she said she wants Andean people to “reclaim their own identity.” 

Naranjo encourages students of all backgrounds to join Danza Andina. 

Yale admitted its first Latine student in the early 1970s.