By MONIQUE VARELA

(Photo courtesy of Loveyoursphotography_ on Instagram)

Quinceañeras are a really important part of a 15-year old Hispanic/Latina girl’s life. It is a party where they are surrounded by friends and family to support the coming of age from girlhood to womanhood. In culture, the girl wears a big poofy ball-gown type of a dress, and is also accompanied by chambelanes (chamberlains) and damas (maids of honor) of their choosing.

The party consists of many dances and well at times a hall that is rented for that day specifically. It is the quinceañera’s day, which means she makes most of the decisions of how the party will go down. A quince, short for quinceañera, is very deep-rooted into the culture and has a long history behind where it originally originated.

Modern Traditions of Quinces

The traditions of a quince comes with many gifts, dances like the vals and the baile sorpresa, which means the surprise dance. The first dance of the evening is usually the father daughter dance and is meant to show the symbolism of their relationship. It is usually a more personal dance with a slower song that is light hearted, but sometimes people do a more upbeat dance that is funny. Though it doesn’t necessarily need to be just her father, sometimes it can be her mother and or just someone who played a big part in her life. 

This was my father daughter dance in my quince, this is a very common way to dance this dance. There is the live music in the background as well as both of us having a very personal dance (Photo courtesy of Loveyoursphotography_ on Instagram).

 The second dance of a quince is the vals, which can be either performed with only chambelanes or both chambelanes and damas. The dance is similar to the father daughter dance in that it is a slower dance with some tricks, such as chambelanes lifting the quinceañera. The most popular song for this dance is “Tiempo De Vals” by Chayanne or “El vals de las mariposas” by Danny Daniel. 

Usually the third dance consists of the quinceañera and her court and is the baile sorpresa. In the baile sorpresa it is very upbeat with tricks and different songs in the mix. What is different about the baile sorpresa is the outfit change that happens, usually the quinceañera and her court change into a different outfit that is very flashy. The fun thing about this dance is that it shows a different side of the quinceañera and is meant to show off her womanhood. This is the last dance that includes her court and is brought with many cheers and claps from the family.

The official final dance is the dance of the padrinos and madrinas, there can be many of them. The padrinos and madrinas are a long standing tradition in a quince and are basically just people who helped pay for anything in the party process. The dance consists of her and the main chambelan. A quinceañera is not a cheap party to host, the cost of a quince is usually 5,000-20,000 dollars. This is why the dance is so important, it thanks the people who were so graceful to help out. 

Another tradition that comes with having a quinceañera is the photographer, though people have photographers at different parties, the photographer at quinces usually film the whole party and follows the quinceañera throughout the whole day. Pictures are a really big factor into quinces and the pictures that are taken are usually the quinceañera herself, one with her damas and chambelanes, and individual pictures with her family. Like said before, a quinceañera is a very family oriented event and is an event that gathers the whole family together, even out of the country. 

Another culture factor that is played into a quince is the use of mariachi and live music. This is just mainly to represent the culture as a whole due to a quince being so extravagant. 

Though the biggest part of a quince is obviously the dress. The dress is what will be in videos and pictures forever, so it is a really important part of the girls party. Usually she is accompanied by her mother, aunts, and or her damas.

Quince dresses have a very distinct look and are actually different from just a ball gown dress and have specific locations of where these dresses are sold. Not only is the dress big but the cost of a quince dress is too. The average quince dress value can be 500-2,000 dollars depending on style as well as the seller. Some can even be more expensive than that, which is why a quince costs so much. The quinceañera also usually gets her hair and makeup done by professionals, as well as getting her nails done.

This is a picture of my quince dress, it plays into the very common color, pink, that is worn as a dress color. The color is meant to show purity and softness in culture. The dress is accompanied by a ramo (bouquet of flowers) as well as the crown and jewelry (Photo courtesy of Loveyoursphotography_ on Instagram). 

Halls are also a big part of a quince, some don’t have some, but it is very common to have a backyard quinceañera at a family member’s house or their house. As mentioned before, these halls can be anywhere from $5,000 to even $20,000 on the more expensive side.

Another common tradition is the changing of the shoes. Usually, the birthday girl wears some sort of sneaker around the day to help her move more comfortably. But at the party the changing of the shoe happens where she changes her sneaker to a heel. This is meant to represent her leaving her childhood and childlike mind and becoming a woman and entering womanhood.

The History and Original Traditions of Quinces

Though a quinceañera can be celebrated by all hispanic/latino people around the world such as Mexico, Latin America, the United States, and the Caribbean, it is thought that the origins of a quince came from the Aztecs and Mayans.

According to Britannica, “it is thought that the quinceañera may have originated in the admixture of Spanish culture (including Roman Catholicism) with that of the indigenous peoples the Spaniards colonized.” 

Similar to the current traditions, it is still meant to represent a rite of passage.

If not noticed, there are actually a lot of similarities between a quince and a wedding ceremony. Similarities being the masses, extravagant dress, the court is extremely similar, and as well as the dances that happen. 

This is actually not a coincidence, in the original Aztec and Mayan quinceañera, the 15th birthday actually meant that the girl was ready to be married. Though it still did mean the change from girl to woman. The 15th was originally meant to be seen as the girl still being a virgin and the chambelanes originally being the suitors lined up to want to marry her. 

Unlike now, her becoming a woman officially meant that she was an adult and was meant to learn the customs of what a woman needed to do during that era. According to FamilySearch, “Girls were taught traditional homemaking skills, such as weaving and cooking, to prepare for marriage and children”.

The mass service at the beginning of a quince is also very common as it is to show the quinceañera’s commitment to God and the Virgin Mary. It is meant to be a promise to God that she will continue to follow Christ and have faith in the religion. In a modern mass the quinceañera receives a Bible, rosary, ring, as well as a tiara. The Bible and rosary are meant to 

represent her strong faith into the religion. According to Quinceañera Style, “the Quinceañera’s Bible is given as an important resource used to keep the word of God in the life of the quinceañera”.

This is the common practice for quinces, which is the misa (the mass). In culture, usually the quinceañera transfers the flower to a vase in front of the photo of the Virgin Mary. When the flowers are placed in the vase it now represents the flowers of God and blesses the quinceañera (Photo courtesy of Loveyoursphotography_ on Instagram). 

The reason why religion became a big part of the quince is due to Spanish settlers that came into the territory. They are actually the ones who brought along the Catholic rituals and customs to this celebration. As they began to expand and move around the world, they took the customs of a quinceañera with them and took it all over the world. This is why this traditional party isn’t just located in Mexico, but Catholicism remains a traditional part of the party and is being continued even in modern times. 

Nowadays, the common quince dress is a very colorful one with lavish designs. Though originally, the colors of the dress was traditionally meant to be white and pink. The reason for this is to show femininity as well as pureness of being a virgin. This would make it easier for the woman to be given away by the father.

 The controversial part of quinces comes with the fact that the original significance was to sell the daughter off for money to gain more financial and social status. Which is why the party became such an extravagant thing, they wanted their daughter to seem as the best suitor. 

Conclusion

Though the history of this event can be a very long and complex topic, the point of the party still remains the same. The celebration of girl to woman is a very big part and though some traditions may have changed, the connections that come with the party remain the same.