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Experience salsa and vallenato, two popular rhythms of Colombia

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Traditional dances of Colombia

The green country of Colombia is located in the northwest of the South American continent. The Colombians themselves do not really like the Russian or English pronunciation (“colAmbia”) and are asked to call their homeland “Colombia”. But no matter what language you call it, the word “Colombian” brings to mind festive music, bright outfits and dancing smiling people. In the last article, we talked about the traditional dances of Chile. Let's talk about Colombia today.

Colombia is not only a country of endemic animals, a variety of birds and outlandish plants. Colombia's musical heritage is no less diverse, for a number of reasons. This is a country where the roots of Indian, African and European dance cultures are mixed. Clear drum rhythms came from Africa, more advanced choreography and beautiful clothes came from Europe, the Indian population brought the energy of the place and the sounds of a flute from a millet stalk. All this has been mixed and developed for centuries depending on the region of the country, which can be conditionally distinguished into three: the Caribbean coast, the Pacific coast and the hinterland with the foothills of the Andes. From region to region, musical traditions can change so much that it seems like they are completely different countries. A prime example of Colombia's current cultural mix is ​​singer Shakira, who combines Colombian roots with Middle Eastern blood and European relatives and is the country's national hero.

In 1930, Antonio José Restrepo published the Antioquia Songbook, where he indicated a great variety of musical styles and dance styles in Colombia: galeron, carrumba, chucho, buyerengue, mapale, bamboo, paseo, son and others. Now folklore dances can be seen at holidays or at performances of street artists on Sunday evenings.

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Mapale

It has African roots and comes from the Caribbean coast of the country. In the original, it is performed to the clapping of the palms and the drum rhythm. The choreography follows the movements of the mapale fish, beating in the air: short steps, quick, energetic chest movements. In general, it resembles the basic movements from modern reggaeton, only at an even more hectic pace. Women's movements are slightly softer and more erotic. It is performed by two rows of dancers: male and female. Mapale, like many dances in general, had the meaning of choosing a partner. It is performed by men bare-chested and wearing light-coloured trousers, while the women are dressed in Indian grass skirts.

Bullerengue

Came from the Atlantic coast and has perhaps the strongest African roots. This is a ritual dance performed only by women to the sound of drums, clapping and singing of the choir. However, the sound of the music is no longer as African as in Mapala. Buyerenge symbolizes the onset of the adult period in a girl's life. It is performed by young girls holding the body straight and making slow movements, coordinated and symmetrical. The girl's legs are kept inseparably from the floor, connecting her knees together and slightly bending them. The movements of the hips are smooth and rhythmic, as are the swings of the wide hem of the skirt, imitating the movements of the wings of a butterfly or ocean waves. All movements are calm, solemn.

Currulao

The dance originated on the Pacific coast, bringing together the African heritage of the colonial era. This is a couples dance in which a man fights for the attention of a woman, trying to invite her to dance. The business of the lady is to politely and evasively refuse, at least not to give up immediately. The dancers are most often dressed in white. Both dancers have a handkerchief in their hands. The man plays it, circling and dancing around his partner, intensifying the effect with gestures, sighs and turns. The lady remains cool to the courtship of the gentleman and tries to deviate from him, gently circling and waving the hem of her skirt. In essence, this dance-game is very similar to the Cuban rumba, however, the curulao is much smoother.

Bamboo

The history of this dance stretches from the end of the 19th century. Bambuco was traditionally performed in the regions of the Colombian Andes (Cauco, Boyaca, Santander del Norte, Nariño). Each region had its own variation, but in the beginning of the 20th century, professional choreographers tried to single out a single dance pattern that can now be seen at the holidays. The key figures of bamboo (flirting, courtship, kissing) show the process of conquering a girl by a man. At 1960s Bamboo Suit Officially Adopted:
- corset and wide-brimmed skirt with floral patterns and lace for a woman, a flower in her head;
- hat, white / striped shirt and poncho for a man. A man can play with a scarf, and a woman can take a hat from a gentleman.

A tipple dance is performed - a Colombian type of guitar and an Indian flute. The rhythms of babmbuko are free and fun. Popular at the summer festivals of San Pedro and San Juan.

Joropo

An ancient dance that originated in the eastern regions of Yano and Colombo from the Spanish fandango and, oddly enough, the European waltz. Choropo performed at family holidays. Back in the 17th century. The church tried to ban the choropo, but it is still danced today. Women's costume - a short and puffy skirt, similar to an exotic flower and sandals. Harp and maracas sound in choropo.

The meaning of the dance is the same flirting. When performing horopo, the body of the dancers remains almost motionless, while the legs beat out a clear and fast rhythm. An incredible number of turns are taken from the waltz. There are many varieties of horopo: central, eastern, guayan, yyanero, kirpa and others.

Cumbia

Despite the abundance and variety of folklore dances in Colombia, the most popular and famous is the cumbia. Cumbia is a mix of Spanish and African music that originated on the Atlantic coast, in the region of the Madalena River (Bolivar, Cordoba, Sucre, Atlantico and Magdalena regions). Gradually, the dance spread throughout the northern coast and further to the countries of South America. Now it can be found in Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, Chile and Mexico.

Double dance: a man is courting a lady, holding one hand behind his back, and in the other - a hat, trying to invite the lady for a walk. The movements of men and women are different. Initially, the dance was born at the Fiesta de la Candelaria candle festival, so in the original, folklore version of the dance, women hold lighted candles with one hand, and hold the hem of their skirt with the other. With the same candles, you can protect yourself from the "courtship" of a persistent gentleman. The lady's movements are softer, smoother and more restrained, she glides with short steps, while the man spins around the partner, attracting her attention in every possible way, including making faces and bullying her. Women's costume: a wide-brimmed skirt and a blouse that can fall off the shoulder. The men are traditionally dressed in white with a red scarf around their necks.

Drums, maracas and local bagpipes were originally among the instruments, but later an accordion brought from Europe joined them, and the cumbia acquired its familiar sound today. The rhythm of the music is syncopated.

Cumbia is very popular and is still danced even now in nightclubs. Of course, the costume and choreography have changed. And to such an extent that people perform salsa steps to the tune of cumbia, but nevertheless you can easily hear this tune in a disco.

Salsa caleña (salsa colombiana)

In terms of steps and sound, Cubano is so different from the salsa we are used to that you might think that this is a completely different dance. In salsa kalenya, you will hear less percussion and more wind instruments, namely trumpets, which gives the orchestra a slightly old-fashioned sound.

The style was born in the 30s. 20th century and has been actively developed since the mid-50s, when the annual Feeria de Cali festival opened in Cali, which is still ongoing. While the poor danced the rumba, swing and rock and roll broke into the more affluent circles. Over time, the styles began to mix, they were supplemented by the rhythms of boogaloo (two-beat rhythm) and pachanga (or charanga - after the orchestra that performed the pachanga), in which special attention was paid to footwork. Pop stars from the South American continent such as Hector Lavoe and Celia Cruz came to the festival in Cali, bringing something new. Nowhere did salsa dance so much as in Cali. As a result, in the 80s. the city receives the title of "salsa capital of the world" and holds it to this day. There are many salsa schools in Cali, and it seems that the whole city does nothing but dance.

The dance itself is characterized by complex and fast footwork at a very energetic pace with complex figures and acrobatic lifts. The dance is suitable for both solo performances and large groups (which is most loved in Colombia). The Colombians themselves will dance this version of salsa in a simple disco.

Salsa choke (chichoke)

Another type of salsa, which originated quite recently, in 2008 in the Aguablanca region in the east of Cali, but, nevertheless, gained popularity among young people. Similar in rhythm to salsaton, the dance involves moving the leg and hip twice to each side with coordinated hand movements. This step is very similar to the movements in bachata, but with twice the speed. The dance is rather single or collective than a pair dance, and is quite suitable for discos.

Choque

However, salsa choque should not be confused with another dance with an almost identical name Choque (different spelling). Simply “choque” is a modern variation of a dance known in the 70s as Bumps, where the dancers hit each other with their hips (this movement can be found in the Brazilian forro and in other directions). However, the modern Colombian choque is performed to rhythmic reggaeton music and is a rather indecent version of Bumps: the partner hits the hips, knees, arms, shoulders and even the head on the buttocks of the rhythmically moving partner. The dance is street and quite provocative.

Vallenato

A very popular genre of romantic song in Colombia, which replaces bachata for Colombians. However, many of the tracks known as bachata actually come from the Colombian vayenato (or "vallenato", as you can hear in Russian as often as possible), and you will be surprised to hear familiar melodies in a slightly different rhythm.

Less percussion, more percussion instruments. The main instruments are caja (percussion), guacharaca (cross-cut reed pipe) and, of course, the accordion. Vaienato is a little more syncopated than bachata. In principle, movements from bachata can also be performed under vaienato, but still this genre has its own choreography.

Partners stand almost embracing and take two small steps to the right and two small steps to the left. The partner tightly hugs the gentleman with his right hand around the neck. At the same time, oddly enough, bachata, which involves less close contact, is considered more indecent in the cities of Colombia than vayenato. Colombians from big cities themselves say that they are passionate people, but modest enough to dance bachata in public. But the hot climate of the coasts is conducive to greater freedom: there, in discos, they prefer bachata, salsa and reggaeton.

Vaienato or “song of the valley” (from Spanish valle – valley) can be both slow, telling about love for the lady of the heart with a detailed description of her, and fast, incendiary. Singer Carlos Vives is considered a classic of the present time in this genre.

Zumba

And finally. Zumba is not exactly a dance, it is rather a dance-sport direction that was born completely by accident in 1999. Alberto Perez, a fitness instructor, originally from that same Colombian city of Cali, worked in Miami and forgot to bring a music disc to one of his workouts. I had to make do with a playlist from my own player. Clients liked the idea, and gradually fitness to hot Latin rhythms gained popularity not only in Miami, but also in half of the globe. Since 2001, the Zumba Empire has become official and has grown. For a fee, you can train and become a Zumba instructor, as well as get access to the official Zumba choreography on the site. The rhythms used are energetic, but very different: cumbia, reggaeton, salsa, bachata, i.e. all spectrum of latin dances. An accidental mistake brought Beto Perez world fame, fun and useful workouts for millions of people, and Colombians a great pride in their compatriot.

Text: Alla Anikina

Colombian dances

No country in South America can boast such a wide variety of music and dance as Colombia, which is geographically located between the Andes and the Caribbean Sea. The country clearly has four major areas that have their own musical and dance traditions: the mountain center, the Pacific coast, the Caribbean coast and the Llanos or eastern plains.

This area includes the Andean highlands as well as the Cauca and Magdalena valleys. It contains the three largest cities in the country: Bogota, Cali and Medellin. This area is characterized by soft and sentimental music, accompanied mainly by stringed instruments, flute and maracas. The main musical instrument of the highlands, and indeed the rest of Colombia, is the tiple - a small 12-string guitar. The national dance of the area is the bambuco, whose rhythms are said to have inspired the Colombian troops at the Battle of Ayacucho in 1824. This dance is practiced almost everywhere, from the capital to the smallest villages. His choreography is quite complex, often including many figures such as Los Ochos, La Invitación, Los Codos, Los Coqueteos, La Perseguida and La Arrodilla. Other major dances in the highlands of Colombia include the torbellino, which is notable for having women circling almost non-stop; the more sedate guabina, pasillo, bunde, sanjuanero, and the playful rajaleña dance.
There are quite a lot of fiestas in Colombia, during which you can admire folk dances and listen to incendiary Latin American rhythms. The main such fiestas include La Fiesta del Campesino, held on the first Sunday in June, Fiesta del Bambuco (Neve, June), Folklórico Colombiano Festival (Ibaca, June), Fiesta Nacional de la Guabina y el Tiple (Veles, early August), Desfile de Silleteros (Medellin, August), Las Fiestas de Pubenza (Popayán, just after the New Year).

The tropical Pacific coast of Colombia (stretching down to Esmeraldas in Ecuador) is perhaps the most “African” region in terms of dance and music in all of South America.

The most popular dances here are the currulao and its variants berejú and patacoré, extremely energetic African-style entertaining dances. The Pacific Coast is also home to one of Colombia's most popular dances, the marimba. The music here is mainly percussive instruments such as the upright cununo drum, as well as bombos and redoblantes. One of the region's most unusual dances is the satirical chocoana, formerly a Spanish dance that was later adopted by the black population.
The largest regional fiestas on the Pacific coast are Festival Folklórico del Litoral (Buenaventura, July) and San Francisco de Asís (Quidbo, August 4).

In the northwest of South America lies the country of Colombia, which has such a rich variety of dances that they vary quite a lot depending on the region of the country. Music historians identify 4 regions in the country that have their own traditional music and dance scenes: the mountain center, the Pacific coast, the Caribbean coast, and the eastern plains.

The music of Colombia's Caribbean lowlands, called Música Tropical, became popular in dances throughout Latin America more than 30 years ago. During this time, the "music of the tropics" became an integral part of salsa. It can be roughly divided into cumbia and vallenato. Cumbia is by and large a dance form of the black population, which is performed by several couples. The men form the outer circle in the dance and the women form the inner circle. Also, this dance is notable for the fact that men hold a bottle of rum over their heads, and women hold bundles of thin lighted candles called espermas.

According to historians, the dance was probably born in the territory of modern Panama, from where it was subsequently brought east to Cartagena, a city that is now considered to be the capital of cumbia. After that, the dance also took root in Barranquilla and Santa Marta. The most famous cumbia festivals take place in Cienaga, Santa Cruz de Mompos, Sampues, San Jacinto and Sinselejo. The dance is usually performed to the rhythms of the national instruments gaitas or flautas de caña de millo, as well as drums. Gaitas (there are "male" and "female" versions of the instrument) are vertical flutes coated with wax. Cañas de millo are small transverse flutes.
The most famous and popular varieties of cumbia are porro, gaita, puya, bullerengue and mapalé. Moreover, the last two varieties are much faster and more energetic than all the others. Recently, cumbia melodies have also become an integral part of the vallenato repertoire, and as such, they are often performed on the accordion.

Cumbia was partly superseded by vallenato from the list of main Colombian dances and today is more popular outside the country. But all Colombian migrants perform cumbia in cities such as Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Los Angeles and even London. Given that the dance has become more popular in other countries, sub-genres such as the cumbia techno and the cumbia villera popular in Peru and Argentina naturally arose.
In Colombia, various cultural influences are closely intertwined, which could not but be reflected in the diversity of its folklore and dances. Colombia is now 56% mestizo, 22% white, 14% mulatto, 4% African, 3% Sambo and 1% Indian. Naturally, such a combination has led to the fact that the regions of the country are so different in their traditions that sometimes it seems that these are different countries.

One of the most striking cities in Colombia in terms of the variety of dances is Barranquilla, which hosts the second largest carnival in South America after Rio de Janeiro. During the carnival, countless traditional groups of masked dancers, such as congos, toros, diablos and caimanes, parade through the streets of Barranquilla. These groups of dancers perform garabato, a dance in which they "conquer death" during the procession. The Carnival of Barranquilla is less commercialized and more traditional than in Rio. Any person can take part in it.

A number of other major festivals are also held on the Caribbean coast of Colombia - Corralejas de Sincelejo with its bullfights (January), La Candelaria (Cartagena, February 2), Festival de la Cumbia (El Banco, June), Fiesta del Caimán (Cienaga, January) and Festival del Porro (San Pelayo, Córdoba).

A description of dancing in the Caribbean region of Colombia would be incomplete without mentioning the Colombian islands of San Andrés and Providence, off the coast of Nicaragua, which feature an exciting combination of mainland Colombian and Jamaican island music. Two dance genres are also very popular on these islands - champeta, which was born in Cartagena from soucose, compass and reggae, and which is characterized by a very provocative dance, and reggaeton - which is widespread throughout Latin America.It is assumed that it originally originated in Panama from a mixture of meringue, reggae and ragga.0003

The fourth area in Colombia, which has its own musical and dance traditions, is the region of the great eastern plains, the so-called Llanos. The yoropo dance reigns supreme here, and its close relatives are the couple dances galerón (slower and more romantic dance), pasaje (faster version), corrido and zumba que zumba.

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