Category Archives: Folk Dance

La Cucaracha – Spanish Folk Song

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: College Student
Residence: California, USA
Performance Date: 05/02/2021
Primary Language: English

Context:

Informant JA was an undergraduate student at the University of Southern California at the time of this collection. JA was born in the San Francisco Bay Area, but their dad’s side of the family originates from Mexico. When JA was young, their great-grandmother would sing a Spanish folk song while playing a game with JA when they were about three years old. I spoke with JA to see what they could remember about their experience with this song.

Text:

Lyrics:

“La cucaracha, la cucaracha, da-na-na-na-na-na-na” (repeated until game was over)

Accompanying Game:

While JA’s great-grandmother would sing La Cucaracha, she would hold her arms out in a circle with her hands holding each other almost like a basket. JA would run in a circle in front of their great-grandmother, and when she was done repeating the lyrics, she would put her arms down to try and capture JA while they were within her basket-like arm positioning. If she caught them, she would tickle them. If she did not catch them, JA would win the game.

Analysis:

Hearing about JA’s experience with this folk song and its accompanying game allowed me to consider how it might connect with the role Hispanic/Latina (great) grandmothers play when it comes to sharing cultural traditions and information to younger generations. By singing this song, she is providing entertainment for young JA while simultaneously fulfilling the responsibility of transmitting their shared Mexican culture. In pairing this song with a game, JA’s great grandmother, is perhaps teaching JA that they can partake and enjoy a culture that might feel distant from them as a Mexican American growing up in a suburban area. The performance of this folk song in this context captures the the desire to connect singer and listener to one another all while sharing an aspect of Mexican culture.

Danza de los Viejitos

Nationality: United States
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Pomona, CA
Performance Date: 4/27/20
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Main piece:

There’s this thing called Danza de los Viejitos. It’s is a dance to represent the 4 elements, which are water, earth, air and fire, and the dancers wear this thing called a Sarape, a cloak, and a straw hat and sandals with a wooden bottom so that their footsteps are like, heard by the people who are worshipping. It’s kinda cool because the dance has a cool purpose. It’s so that we can pray for a good harvest, especially, corn, and so that we can have a stronger connection to the spirits.

Context

The informant, SB, currently lives in Pomona, CA and his parents are from Mexico. He goes to CalPoly Pomona. This is a tradition that he remembers fondly from his childhood. I met him through his girlfriend, JH. This story was collected over a group call.

Thoughts:

I think that this tradition is interesting because a lot of other cultures also have it where the four elements are “Earth, air, fire and water”––this is true of Greek, Babylonian, Chinese, and other cultures I’m sure. It goes to show how integral these four elements are to the well being of the body and the environment, cross culturally. 

The Dabke Dance

Nationality: Lebanese
Age: 21
Occupation: Student/Screenwriter
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/15/2020
Primary Language: English
Language: Arabic, French, Spanish

This interview is a transcribed conversation between me, interviewer, and interviewee, referred to as SM. 

SM: I’m from Lebanon and in Lebanon and many other Middle Eastern Countries along the Sinai Peninsula, we commonly do this dance we all refer to as the dabke. I always see it at family weddings and other celebrations like birthdays.

Me: So what does this dance look like?

SM: So this dabke dance is done with both men and women, and it’s basically when people line up together and hold hands or link arms and then in a circle begin to dance and stomp their feet in synchronization. They also, like, sway their bodies from side to side in synchronization. Everyone dances and, oh, everyone sings as well in the circle. The circle rotates and people just keep swaying and dancing and stomping.

Me: Ok, and why do you do this dance?

SM: I was told by my dad, and other family members, that the dabke actually originates in Lebanon when we as Phoenicians used to make our homes out of stone and would put straw, wood, and finally mud on top. My dad said they used to have to stomp on the mud to pack it into the straw and be sturdy. Apparently the only way to do that on the roofs of the homes was to have men line up and stomp in synchronization.

Me: Have you ever done the dabke?

SM: Yeah, I’ve done it at a couple weddings and stuff – usually it just breaks out and everyone gets swept into it.

Background:

Interviewee was born and raised in America, but his parents are both Lebanese. He lived in Dubai during his teen years and has always had very close ties to Lebanon. He visits Lebanon at least once a year and speaks with his parents regularly, where they speak in Arabic and often chat about history. They also all continually practice many Lebanese and Arabic traditions and share folklore. 

Context:

This interview was conducted over a video call. Interviewee and I are romantically involved, so the conversation was very open and casual. He was very willing to help out and share some of his culture’s lore. 

Thoughts:

It is interesting to hear a young person’s rendition of a traditional dance that clearly is still prevalent in Middle Eastern culture. His recollection and the version he knows is only one of many – many different dabkes emerged in different Middle Eastern countries. The interviewee explained the history of the dabke quite well – it is adapted from a roof dance. I greatly enjoyed learning about this and would love to see it in person. 

For a different version and more history of the dabke dance, refer to this link: https://www.arabamerica.com/dabke-cultural-background-preparing-arab-american-wedding-season/

El Caballo Dorado

Nationality: Mexican American
Age: 22
Residence: California
Performance Date: 4-22-2020
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Background: Informant is a 22 year old first generation Mexican American.

Main Piece:

Interviewer: Are there any popular traditions your family has for parties?

Informant: Well for almost every party, they play this song called El Payaso del Rodeo by El Caballo Dorado. It is a song where the same dance moves are repeated, you start by stomping your foot, and when the music starts you dance to the left, then dance backwards, then forward and back again, you essentially turn after the last time you dance backwards to face different directions. This song is a staple at most parties, but especially at quinceneras.

Context: Interview with a family friend, asking about any family traditions.

Thoughts: I have heard of el caballo dorado, but I was not aware that it was not the name of the song. I always called the song and the dance el caballo dorado. It is interesting to know that some people know the actual facts of the song. Meanwhile others, like myself only know what we always been told. The caballo dorado is a fun dance, and really gets people on the dance floor.

Quinceanera celebration

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 50
Occupation: Housewife
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 04/28/2020
Primary Language: Spanish

Main piece: 

The following was transcribed from a conversation between informant and interviewer.

Informant: A tradition… that all families, all hispanic families celebrate, or all families do is a daughter’s 15 year old birthday. They call it a quinceanera. All families do it. The 15 year ceremony is very important because the dad presents his daughter to society… because umm…  because she stops being a girl and becomes a young woman. 

Interviewer: What do you do in the quinceanera? 

Informant: The most important part is mass to give thanks for her 15 years of living. Godparents are chosen for the ceremony. After mass is the party. And in the party there is a lot of food… eh there are different types of you know ehh platters depending on the region. There’s dance, wine, y around 10 in the night, the waltz is danced with the dad, the brothers if any, and the rest of the males in the family including grandparents, uncles, and cousins. After that there are other dances, the one that the quinceanera likes and she dances with her “chambelanes”. They change attire and after the dancing, there is one last ceremony. The madrina gives her one last doll, the last doll she’ll be given because she stops being a girl and the madrina crowns her with a crown and replaces her shoes with slippers. Once that’s done, she’s officially considered a princess and a young woman. 

Background: The informant was my mom who was born in Mexico City. She was raised in Mexico but came to the U.S. about 20 years ago. She still goes back during the summer to visit family and that sort of thing. She has learned about this tradition since she was very young because all her cousins and sisters went through the quinceanera so she knows the ceremony very well. However, she did not have one because instead of a party/ceremony, she wanted a car so she got that instead.

Context: I was in the kitchen with my mom and I needed one more collection piece from her so I asked her straight up what’s another tradition that she knows really well because I needed one more. She told me the importance of the quinceanera as I was helping her prepare food and I had my phone out to record our conversation.

Thoughts: I know the quinceanera is a big tradition because I lived it with my sister when she turned 15. I’m not a good dancer, or even like dancing, but I had to for my sister’s ceremony in order to keep with tradition. I can tell it’s a special moment for them because like my mom explained, it is the transition from a girl to a young woman. Everyone in the family enjoys the ceremony and it’s a fun time overall. The girl never forgets her quinceanera because of how grand the spectacle is.