Peru Profundo: Deep Peru

Welcome!

Welcome to Peru Profundo. Peru Profundo is a grassroots non-profit dance company co-founded in Chicago by Carmen A. Mejia and Kathy Sardeña in 2002 when they were awarded an Ethnic Arts Grant from the Illinois Arts Council for Afro-Peruvian dance. Their dances have strong roots in Criollo, Indigenous, African and Andean musical traditions from various regions of Peru. Peru Profundo evolved from a generational family legacy of honoring Peruvian dance, music and folklore. The company is composed of dancers from various nationalities and ethnicities as well as ages who volunteer their time to learn, perform and teach Peruvian dances to the community. Their performances often include poetry, song, and video, in a family-friendly setting.

Our Mission

The mission of Peru Profundo Dance Company is to educate communities in Chicago and nationally about Peruvian dance and folklore through performances and dance workshops for people of all backgrounds and abilities. Our performances & workshops are culturally educational with the goal of fostering understanding and collaboration between people of all ethnicities and traditions.

Our Work

We have been given certificates of appreciation from the Peruvian Consulate of Chicago and Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas. We were also honorably invited to join Unesco's Council on International Dance in 2004. Peru Profundo has performed at a variety of venues around Chicago such as St. Ignatius Church/Hermandad del Sr. de los Milagros in Chicago, Daniel Boone School, Our Lady of Fatima Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Albany Park Community Center, Columbia College Chicago, The Old Town School of Folk Music, UIC Latino Cultural Center, Daley Plaza, Grant Park, The Palmer House, the Catholic Theological Union (CTU), Navy Pier, Pan-African Festival at the University of Chicago, Custer's Last Stand Festival in Evanston and a few of our members were extras in a Columbia College Chicago thesis film entitled Sin Banderas, Sin Fronteras directed by peruvian Julio Ramos in 2005. We were also honored to perform at the 2006 Smithsonian Folklife Festival as part of the exhibition entitled "Nuestra Musica: Latino Music in Chicago" at the National Mall in Washington D.C.! We continue to be invited to various events in Chicago and nationally.

Our reviews

"It was a wonderful event, you and your group were great to work with, and we will definitely want to have you back next fall." - Skokie Public Library 10/2007

Requests

If you are interested in booking Peru Profundo for a performance or a dance workshop please write to us with three weeks in advance via e-mail at info at peruprofundodancedotcom. Please inform us of the name of the event, date, time and location. We look forward to hearing from you!

Store/Donations

We have many of our past shows in DVD format. If you would like to purchase a shirt, DVD or any of our quality photos of Peru Profundo, follow the link below to make a purchase!

Peru Profundo store

You can also make donations to our organization below. If you enjoy our shows and would like to see even more, please click below! With more funding we can give you bigger shows, beautiful costumes and more inspiring dances from Peru!

Show Schedule

We are on break for the summer... ...and will be back in August! Look for us Saturdays at 3 pm at the Levy Center in Evanston!

Our upcoming event:

The International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago presents... VIVE LA HISPANIDAD
Place: Galleria Marchetti
Date: Friday, October 10,2008
Time: 6:30 PM to 12:00 PM
Location: 825 W. Erie, Chicago
Price: See www.latinoculturalcenter.org for details

Upcoming show:

NBC5 Travel Expo at Navy Pier
Place: Nevy Pier
Date: Saturday and Sunday November 15 and 16, 2008
Time: 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Location: 600 E. Grand, Chicago
Price: See www.nbc5.com/travelexpo/index.html for details