Quinceañera: Difference between revisions

The Quinceañera or Quince Años (meaning fifteen years) is, in some Spanish-speaking regions of the Americas, a young woman's celebration of her fifteenth birthday, which is celebrated in a unique and different way from her other birthdays. In some countries, such as Puerto Rico or Peru, the word Quinceañero is used instead of Quinceañera when referring to the celebration.

The word is also used to refer to the young woman whose 15th birthday is being celebrated (analogous to the word "cumpleañera" for "birthday girl"). The closest equivalents to the Quinceañera in the English-speaking world are the sweet sixteen or, in more affluent communities, a debutante ball at the age of eighteen. In some cases, the birthday girl has a choice of a quinceañera, a trip, or a car.

The celebration marks the transition from the childhood to womanhood of a Quinceañera. It serves as a way to acknowledge that a young woman has reached maturity.

While this traditional celebration is still practiced nowadays in Latin America and Latino communities in North America, it is sometimes observed by other events that focus more on the quinceañera's wishes (e.g. world travelling). In some cities, the more proper Baile de las Debutantes (Debutantes' Ball) still survives.

Some other traditions observed in the celebration include the giving and throwing of a quince doll. The display doll signifies the young lady's last doll as a child and the throwing doll, usually a Barbie type, is thrown by the young lady to the other female children in attendance much as the garter is thrown in a wedding. The celebrant is wearing tennis shoes for the celebration but after the inagural dance the father of the young lady, who is sitting in a chair in the center of the dance floor, removes her tennis shoes and puts her high heels on signifying her becoming a young lady.

Most parties have the girl wear a pink dress (as she is still a girl, never white which equals bride but now other cultures are letting the girl pick a color) and a tiara because she is a princess in God's eyes that night. She holds a court with 14 girls (primeveras) and 15 guys (chamblans) which including herself would equal 30 people, or, 15 couples (to represent each year). At the party the court does a waltz and a surprise dance. The girl also dances with her father but first changes from flats to heels to represent the first time she can wear them ( the same with makeup). She could also get a doll with the exact same dress she has on to signify that this will be the last doll she ever will receive. In the past the party would show the girl is ready to be married, but now in today's culture it is so the girl can date.

In the Mexican tradition, if the quinceañera is Catholic, the festivities begin with a Thanksgiving Mass (Misa de Acción de Gracias), at which the quinceañera arrives in formal dress (usually white to symbolize purity and innocence), often resembling a wedding dress, accompanied by her parents (padres), godparents (padrinos), a number of maids of honor (primevaras) and chamberlains (chambelanes) ranging in number anywhere from seven to 15 couples. After the Mass, the younger sisters, female cousins and friends of the quinceañera pass out party favors and the quinceañera leaves her bouquet in an altar to the Virgin Mary. The Mass is followed by a party either at the quinceañera's home or in a banquet hall leased for the occasion. At the party, the quinceañera dances the traditional first waltz with her father and male relatives. Then her boyfriend, or male friend, dances the remaining part of the dance with the birthday girl. The celebration however is varied along other countries. In Dominican Republic, for example, the Quinceañera only involves the ball party.

In Cuba, it may include a choreographed group dance, in which 16 couples waltz around the Quinceañera, who is led by one of the top dancers or her boyfriend. Sometimes the choreography includes four or six other skilled dancers called Escortes (escorts). They are allowed to dance around the Quinceañera and are usually dancers adept at improvisation whose movements are intended to highlight the central couple for the spectators. They are also allowed to dress in different colored tuxedos.

Fifteenth birthday celebrations were very popular in Cuba until the late 1970s. The custom entered the country partly via Spain, but its major influence was French. Wealthy families, who could afford to rent luxurious halls at country clubs or 4/5-star hotels and to hire choreographers, were the actual pioneers of Quinceañeras. Although lower-income families could not afford the same display of wealth, they too started to celebrate Quinceañeras, which they called Quinces. Those celebrations usually took place at the home of the Quinceañera or at the more spacious house of a relative. .